THE 


CASE  OF  IRELAND  STATED 

:      .       HISTORICALLY. 

FROM  THE  EARLIEST  TIMES  TO  THE  PRESENT; 


TOGETHER  WITH 


A  GAZETTEEE, 


GEOGRAPHICAL,  DESCRIPTIVE  AND  STATISTICAL,   COMPILED 
FROM  THE  LATEST  AND  BEST  AUTHORITIES. 


"The  mere  Irish  were  not  only  accounted  aliens,  but  enemies,  and 
altogether  out  of  the  protection  of  the  law,  so  as  it  was  no  capital  offense  to 
kill  them."— SIR  JOHN  DAVIES. 


CHICAGO : 
PUBLISHED  BY  P.  T.  SHERLOCK. 

1880. 


Entered  according  to  According  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1889,  by 

P.  T.  SHERLOCK, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


CONTENTS. 


I.  IRELAND:  Showing  her  geographical  position. 
II.  GENERAL  STATISTICS,  exhibiting,  in  a  condensed 
form,  her  government;  the  surface  of  the  island; 
her  agricultural  and  mineral  resources;  her  soil, 
climate,  and  productive  capabilities;  her  popula- 
tion, and  natural  advantages. 

III.  HER  HISTORY,  from  the  earliest  days  of  record  to  the 

present  time,  briefly  sketched. 

IV.  THE  LAND  SYSTEM  under  native  government;  the 

introduction  of  the  feudal  system,  and  the  past 
and  present  condition  of  the  tillers  of  the  soil. 
V.  The  last  organized  effort  by  "  The  National  Land 
League,"  to  root  the  people  on  the  soil  of  their 
fathers,  and  prevent  their  expatriation  through 
poverty,  or  extermination  by  famine. 

VI.  A  GAZETTEER,  exhibiting  in  detail  her  political,  ju- 
dicial and  ecclesiastical  divisions,  and  her  subdi- 
visions, by  counties,  cities,  municipalities,  baro- 
nies, towns,  boroughs  and  parishes;  distinguish- 
ing their  separate  geographical  locations;  their 
mineral  resources,  developed  and  undeveloped; 
their  area  in  acres;  occupations  of  the  people; 
manufactures,  where  they  exist;  water-power, 
railroad  and  water  communications,  population^ 

.  and  public  institutions. 


2066249 


PUBLISHER'S  PREFACE. 


LATE  in  the  fall  of  1879,  when  the  wail  of  Irish  woe, 
caused  by  evictions,  and  the  cry  of  famine  had  reached  the 
shores  of  this  Western  World, — while  Parnell  and  Dillon 
were  crossing  the  Atlantic  for  the  purpose  of  telling  to 
the  American  people  the  sad  story  of  Ireland's  pressing 
need  ;  the  questions  on  every  tongue  were:  Why  this 
ever-recurring  misery  in  a  land  so  bountiful  ?  What  is 
the  cause  ?  Where  is  the  remedy  ? 

Simple  questions,  these;  and  almost  every  Irishman, 
feels  that  he  knows  himself,  yet  how  few  can  give  a 
prompt,  satisfactory  and  laconic  answer. 

Many  an  Irishman,  yet  living,  is  the  victim  of  that 
villainous  law  of  civilizing  England,  which  made  it  a 
crime  punishable  by  death,  to  teach  or  be  taught  the  use 
of  the  alphabet  in  any  language  ; — others  who  escaped 
partially  from  the  operations  of  this  accursed  enactment 
bore  with  them  that  other  accompanying  legacy  of  En- 
glish civilization  to  Ireland — penury.  They  had  neither 
the  means  to  purchase,  nor  the  time  to  peruse  the  scat- 
tered chapters  of  Irish  history. 

They  were  cast  upon  the  world  naked  of  everything, 
as  it  were.  Their  lands  were  stolen.  Their  goods  were 
stolen.  Their  arts,  their  language,  their  literature,  their 
manufactures,  their  music,  their  religion,  their  very  names 


(>  PUBLISHER'S  PREFACE. 

were  prohibited.  Their  women  and  children  were  barbar- 
ously slaughtered,  stolen  and  transported  to  the  Indies, 
and  by  an  act  of  the  English  Pale  Law,  their  very 
manhood  was  assailed,  and  a  large  class  of  the  popu- 
lation were  to  be  mutilated.  But  worse  than  any,  or  all 
of  these  things  put  together — the  mind — -the  intellect — 
the  soul — the  soul  that  represents  the  very  God,  was  to 
be  degraded,  debased  and  destroyed  by  the  laws,  not 
only  of  Protestant  England,  but  also  of  Catholic 
England. 

Nor  did  the  name  or  profession  of  any  special  religious 
belief  have  any  effect  to  debar  the  robber,  when  he 
found  anything  to  steal.  Catholic,  or  Protestant  were 
robbed  alike.  In  the  one  case  it  was  spiritual  fidelity  to 
Rome — in  the  other  it  was  fidelity  to  Ireland — both 
called  treason  to  England.  But  whatever  the  pretense 
for  a  cause,  the  result  was  always  the  same — the  trans- 
fer of  all  their  earthly  possessions  to  the  despoiler,  and 
whenever  it  was  possible,  the  act  was  consummated  by 
the  life-blood  of  the  victim.  Nor  were  the  earlier  English 
land  robbers  more  fortunate,  in  many  cases,  than  the  na- 
tive; the  land  robber  of  one  reign  often  became  the  victim 
of  the  land  robber  of  another  reign,  until  in  time,  the  for- 
feitures and  confiscations  amounted  to  more  than  three 
times  the  surface  of  the  entire  Island. 

At  a  casual  meeting  of  a  few  Irishmen  in  Chicago, — 
about  this  time, — it  was  proposed  to  prepare  an  inexpen- 
sive volume,  not  aspiring  to  the  dignity  of  consecutive 
history,  but  merely  a  glance  at  the  record  of  England's 
doings  in  Ireland,  so  as  satisfactorily  to  answer  the  ques- 
tions propounded,  in  the  smallest  number  of  words — to 
show  whereby  the  laws  of  England  established  a  system 
of  land-robbery  from  which  sprang  most  of  the  evils 


PUBLISHERS   PREFACE.  7 

which  afflict  the  Island,  '•'even  unto  the  present  clay" 
with  the  accompanying  laws  against  commerce,  manufac- 
tures, coinage,  fisheries,  mining,  and  education. 

The  writers  of  this  sketch  of  Irish  history  are  well- 
known  gentlemen,  well  versed  in  history  and  literature,- 
and  their  statements  may  be  accepted  without  question. 
The  present  volume  is  to  meet  an  immediate  want, 
namely,  a  plain  statement  of  the  present  question  agitat- 
ing all  Ireland. 

Should  circumstances  justify,  it  is  proposed  to  make 
this  volume  the  first  of  a  series  of  AN  HISTORICAL 
IRISH  LIBRARY;  not  a  library  in  the  present  acceptation 
of  that  word,  nor  perhaps  strictly  historical — as  it  may 
have  an  occasional  poetic  tinge — but  a  series  of  books 
uniform  in  size,  style  and  price,  and  of  such  useful  mate- 
rial as  will  enable  not  only  the  Irishman  in  America,  but 
also  those  "  of  the  manor  born,"  to  learn  something  of  a 
people,  and  a  land,  who  though  victims  of  the  most  ad- 
verse circumstances  for  centuries,  have  nevertheless 
filled  no  small  space  in  the  world's  history. 

P.  T.  SHERLOCK, 

Publisher. 
CHICAGO,  January,  1880. 


"  The  lion  of  St.  Jarlath's,  Catholic  Archbishop  of  Tuam 

surveys  with  an  envious  eye the  Irish  exodus  ....  and 

sighs  over  the  departing  demons  of  assassination  and  murder!  .  .  . 
So  complete  is  the  rush  of  departing  marauders,  whose  lives  were 
profitably  occupied  in  shooting  Protestants  from  behind  a  hedge, 
that  silence  reigns  over  the  vast  solitude  of  Ireland.  .  .  .  Just  as 
civilization  gradually  supercedes  the  wilder  and  fiercer  creatures 
by  men  and  cities,  so  de-civilization,  such  as  is  going  on  in  Ireland, 
wipes  out  mankind  to  make  room  for  oxen." 

For  this  characteristic  Saxon  yelping  over  the  expatriation  and 
destruction  of  a  million  and  a  half  of  the  Irish  people  caused  by 
fever  and  famine,  see  Saturday  Review,  London,  Nov.  28th,  1863. 

"  111  fares  the  land  to  hastening  ills  a  prey, 
Where  wealth  accumulates  ancLmen  decay; 
Princes  and  lords  may  flourish  or  may  fade — 
A  breath  can  make  them  as  a  breath  has  made ; 
But  a  bold  peasantry,  a  country's  pride, 
When  once  destroyed  can  never  be  supplied." 


STATISTICS  OF  IRELAND. 


HEE  GEOGRAPHICAL  POSITION" — SURFACE,  RIVERS,  LAKES, 
CLIMATE,  BOTANY,  ZOOLOGY  AND  GEOLOGY,  POLITICAL, 
MILITARY  AND  JUDICIAL  DIVISIONS  OF  THE  COUNTRY, 
CENSUS  OF  THE  POPULATION,  ETC. 

IRELAND  is  an  island  on  the  north-west  of  Europe,  lati- 
tude from  51°  26'  to  55°21'  North,  longitude  5°  20'  to  10° 
26'  West.  It  is  surrounded  by  the  Atlantic  Ocean  on  all 
sides  except  where  it  is  separated  from  Great  Britain  by 
St.  George's  Channel,  forty-seven  miles  across  where 
narrowest;  the  Irish  sea,  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight 
miles;  and  the  Northern,  Channel,  thirteen  miles.  Its 
shape  is  a  rhomboid,  the  greatest  diagonal  of  which  is 
three  hundred  and  two  miles,  and  the  lesser,  two  hun- 
dred and  ten  miles;  the  greatest  length  on  a  meridional 
line  is  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles;  the  greatest 
breadth  one  hundred  and  seventy-four  miles,  and  the 
least,  on  parallel  lines  of  latitude,  one  hundred  and  eleven 
miles,  comprising  an  area  of  32,509f  square  miles. 

COASTS  AND  HARBORS. — The  Northern,  Western  and 
Southern  coasts  are  indented  with  numerous  deep  and 
safe  bays  ;  the  Eastern  side  presents  but  few  suited  for 
large  vessels.  The  total  number  has  been  estimated  at 
fourteen  capable  of  harboring  the  largest  men-of-war , 
fourteen  for  frigates,  from  thirty  to  forty  for  coasting 
vessels,  twenty-five  good  summer  roadsteads,  besides  in- 
numerable inlets  i  or  fishing  and  coasting  craft. 

THE  ISLANDS  are  numerous  but  small;  total  number 
one  hundred  and  ninety-six;  the  largest  are  Rathlin 


10  STATISTICS   OF   IRELAXD. 

and  Tory,  north;  Achill,  Clare,  the  South  Arran  Isles  and 
Valentia,  west;  and  Whiddy  and  Cape  Clear,  south. 

SUKFACE. — The  greater  part  of  the  surface  is  a  plain, 
not  strictly  level,  being  mostly  interspersed  with  low 
hills.  The  principal  mountains  are:  Northeast,  the  Mourne 
mountains,  in  the  county  Down,  the  highest  being 
Slieve  Donald,  2,796  feet  above  high  sea  level;  in  the 
west,  the  mountains  surrounding  Clew  bay,  in  Mayo 
county,  the  highest,  called  Mutlrea,  2,638  feet  high;  in 
the  southwest  the  McGillicuddy  Reeks,  in  Kerry  county, 
the  highest  called  Garran-Tual,  3,414  feet  high;  in  the 
east,  the  Wicklow  mountains,  the  highest  named,  Lug- 
ganaquilla,  3,039  feet  high.  The  interior  of  the  country 
is  intersected  by  several  lofty  ranges,  among  which  the 
Devil's  Bit,  Slieve  Bloom,  the  Galtees,  Mount  Leinster 
and  the  Black  Stairs,  are  the  most  remarkable. 

The  quantities  of  land  of  different  elevations,  are  be- 
tween sea  level  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  height, 
13,242f  square  miles  ;  between  two  hundred  and  fifty 
and  five  hundred  feet,  11,797^  ;  between  five  hundred 
and  one  thousand  feet,  5,797^;  between  one  and  two 
thousand  feet,  l,589f ;  above  two  thousand  feet,  82^. 

THE  RIVERS  are  numerous;  the  principal  is'the  Shan' 
non,  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  long,  from  Lough  Al- 
len to  Limerick,  where  it  expands  into  an  estuary  of  for- 
ty-five miles,  opening  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean;  it  is  nav- 
igable nearly  the  whole  of  its  course.  The  Suir,  Barrow, 
Nore,  Blackwater,  Slaney,  Boyne,  Foyle,  Erne,  Lee, 
Bandon,  Bawn,  and  Moy.  are  all  navigable  to  a  greater 
or  less  extent  ;  smaller  rivers,  in  numbers  about  one 
hundred  and  seventy-two,  serving  principally  for  agri- 
cultural and  domestic  purposes,  are  to  be  met  with  in 
every  district.  The  extent  of  country  which  forms  the 
basin  whence  the  principal  rivers  derive  their  supply, 
covers  22,030tsquare  miles. 

THE  LAKES,  generally  called  Loughs,  are  numerous, 
the  largest  Lough  Neagh,  in  Ulster,  covers  98,255  acres. 
There  are  also  Lough  Erne,  Corrib,  Mask,  Conn,  and 
the  celebrated  Lakes  of  Killarney. 

GEOLOGY. — The  geological    structure   of  Ireland    has 


STATISTICS   OF   IRELAND.  11 

this  striking  peculiarity,  that  most  of  the  great  mountain 
ranges  are  near  the  coasts,  while  the  central  portion  is  an 
almost  uniform  plain,  varied  only  by  low  hills.  The  pre- 
vailing formations  are  limestone,  granite,  mica-slate,  clay- 
sla^e,  old  red  sandstone,  yellow  sandstone,  and  basalt  or 
trap.  The  .limestone  extends  over  the  central  plain, 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  east  and  west  from  Dublin  to 
Gal  way  Bay,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  north  and 
south.  Its  greatest  elevation  is  three  hundred  feet,  which 
is  the  heighth  of  the  summit  levels  of  the  canals  that 
traverse  it.  The  principal  tracts  of  granite  are  those  of 
Wicklow,  Galway,  Newry  and  Donegal.  The  mica- 
slate  of  Leinster  [is  confined  to  a  narrow  fringe  edging 
the  granite  region  of  the  province  ;  in  Donegal  and  Gal- 
way  it  spreads  over  large  tracts.  The  clay-slate  is  among 
the  most  important  rocks,  both  for  extent  of  area  and  val- 
uable mineral  deposits.  The  counties  of  Wexford,  Louth, 
Waterford,  Cork  and  Kerry,  are  mostly  formed  of  it.  In 
the  north  it  is  contained  in  the  district  bounded  by  a 
line  from  Longford  to  Drogheda,  eastward,  and  to  Don- 
aghadee,  north-eastward.  At  Kingscourt,  Carrickma- 
cross,  and  Cavan,  the  clay-slate  dips  and  forms 
a  basin,*  in  which  the  limestone  and  coal,  forma- 
tions are  deposited.  Slate  is  quarried  extensively 
at  Killaloe  and  Westport,  in  Clare,  and  in  Wicklow. 
The  old  red  sand-stone  is  chiefly  developed  in  the 
south;  it  forms  the  greater  part  of  Cork  and  Water- 
ford  counties,  and  of  the  inland  mountain  ranges 
of  Knockmeledoun,  Commeragh  and  the  Galtees.  It 
shows  itself  also  in  several  places  in  Westmeath,  Long- 
ford and  Leitrim.  A  large  tract  of  old  red  and  yellow 
sand-stone  forms  the  sea-coast  at  Killaloe,  skirts  by 
Loughs  Conn  and  Cullen,  and  reaches  the  Atlantic  at 
Westport.  An  extensive  track  in  Fermanagh  and  Tyrone 
from  Lough  Erne  to  Cookstown,  has  this  rock  for  its 
basis.  It  is  found  in  patches  in  Antrim,  Derry  and 
Tyrone.  Crystalized  gypsum  occurs  in  Derry  and 
Antrim,  and  selenite  at  Benburb.  Uncrystalized  gypsum 
is  raised  in  large  quantities  at  Carrickmacross.  The 
yellow  sand-stone  usually  accompanies  the  red,  and  rests 


12  STATISTICS   OF   IRELAND. 

upon  it.  The  basalt,  or  trap  occupies  a  very  limited 
area,  being  confined  almost  exclusively  to  the  northeast 
portion  of  the  island,  forming  the  substratum  of  the 
county  of  Antrim  and  of  some  portions  of  Derry  and 
Armagh. 

MINERALS. — The  principal  minerals  are  coal,  iron, 
copper,  lead,  silver  and  gold.  The  coal  fields  are  seven 
in  number — one  in  Leinster,  occupying  large  portions  of 
Kilkenny  and  Queen  counties,  with  a  small  part  of 
Carlow;  two  in  Munster  ;  one  in  Tipperary,  bordering 
on  that  of  Kilkenny.  The  other  spread  over  large  por- 
tions of  Clare,  Limerick,  Cork  and  Kerry  counties, 
being  the  most  extensive  development  of  the  coal  strata 
in  the  British  Empire.  All  these  beds  lie  south  of 
Dublin,  and  yield  only  stone  coal,  or  authracite.  The 
remaining  fields,  which  lie  to  the  north  of  Dublin,  are 
formed  of  bituminous  or  flaming  coal.  Of  .the  northern 
coal-fields  three  are  in  Ulster,  one  at  Coal  Island,  near 
Dungannon;  the  second  in  the  northern  extremity  of 
Antrim  county,  and  the  third  in  Monaghan.  The 
Connaught  coal-field  extends  over  a  space  of  sixteen 
miles  in  its  greatest  length  and  breadth  in  Roscommon, 
Sligo,  Leitrim  and  Cavan  counties.  The  total  area  is 
140,000  acres,  and  with  all  this  wealth  undeveloped,  we 
may  ask  how  it  comes  that  official  returns  prove  that 
over  one  million  tons  of  coal  are  annually  imported  from 
England  into  Ireland. 

TURF  OR  PEAT. — Besides  the  stores  of  fuel,  applicable 
to  manufacturing  and  domestic  uses,  which  lie  embedded 
in  the  coal  fields,  Ireland  enjoys  two  others,  lignite  and 
turf  or  jreat.  Lignite,  an  intermediate  species  of  fuel, 
between  wood  and  cool,  is  found  in  dense  strata,  encom- 
passing the  southern  half  of  Lough  Neagh.  The  total 
area  of  turf-bog  is  estimated  at  2,830,000  acres,  nearly 
one-seventh  of  the  surface  of  the  island.  Of  this 
quantity  1,576,000  are  flat  bog,  spread  over  the  cen- 
tral portions  of  the  great  limestone  plain.  The  remain- 
ing 1,254,000  are  mountain-bog,  spread  over  the  hilly  dis- 
tricts near  the  coast. 

IRON  ore   is  found  in  all   the   localities  of  coal.     Sir 


STATISTICS    OF    IRELAND.  13 

Robert  Kane,  an  eminent  authority,  in  his  valuable  work 
on  "The  Industrial  resources  of  Ireland,"  gives  a  table 
of  the  comparative  contents  in  metalic  iron  of  the  native 
oars,  and  of  the  English,  Scotch  and  Welch,  wherein  he 
demonstrates  that  the  Leinster  and  Connaught  ores  are 
equal  and  even  in  average  superior  to  those  generally 
employed  in  Great  Britain. 

THE  COPPER  MINES  are  distributed  throughout  the 
clay-slate  district  in  a  great  number  of  localities.  The 
principal  are  the  Ballymurtagh,  Conoree,  Cronebane, 
and  Tigroney,  and  Ballyaghan  mines,  in  Wicklow  coun- 
ty; the  Knockmahon,  Kilduane,  Bonmahon,  and  Ballin- 
asisla,  in  the  Waterford  district,  the  mines  of  Allihies  or 
Berehaven,  Audley  and  Cosheen  and  Skull,  in  the 
South-western  district,  and  the  mines  of  Hollyford  and 
Lackamore,  in  the  Western  district. 

LEAD  is  more  extensively  diffused  through  Ireland 
than  copper.  The  granitic  district  of  Wicklow  contains 
numerous  veins;  the  principal  are  those  of  Glendalough, 
Glenmalur,  Glendasane,  or  Luganure,  and  Bally  cor  us. 
The  clay-slate  districts  also  yield  numerous  indications 
of  this  metal. 

GOLD. — Towards  the  close  of  the  last  century,  native 
gold  was  found  in  the  bed  of  the  streams  of  Croghan, 
Kinshela  mountain.  It  was  discovered  by  the  peasants, 
who  collected  quantities  to  the  value  of  over  fifty  thous- 
and dollars,  in  nuggets  from  twenty-two  ounces  to  minute 
grains,  before  their  proceedings  were  public.  The  dis- 
trict was  taken  in  charge  by  Government  agents,  worked 
for  about  two  vears,  and  then  finally  abandoned. 

NATIVE  SILVER  was  found  in  a  bed  of  iron  Ochre  in 
Cronebane,  but  the  deposit  appears  to  have  become  ex- 
hausted. It  has  also  been  lately  found  associated  with 
the  lead  ore  at  Ballycorus. 

TIN  STONE  has  been  found  in  the  auriferous  soil  of 
Wicklow.  Other  minerals,  useful  in  the  arts  and  manu- 
factures, and  found  in  quantities  in  various  parts  of  the 
country  are  manganese,  antimony,  zinc,  nickel,  tin,  iron 
pyrites,  alum,  clays  of  various  kinds,  building  stone, 
marble,  flags,  and  roofing  slates.  The  localities  of  these, 


14  STATISTICS   OF   IRELAND. 

too  numerous  to  find  space  within  the  scope  of  this  work, 
and  the  means  of  their  profitable  application  towards  the 
promotion  of  native  industry,  are  fully  developed  in  the 
valuable  work  of  Sir  Robert  Kane,  already  quoted. 

CLIMATE. — The  climate  is  temperate  and  moist;  the 
crops  are  more  frequently  injured  by  excess 'of  moisture 
than  of  aridity.  Plants  which  require  artificial  heat  in 
England,  flourish  here  in  the  open  air.  This  peculiarity 
of  climate  is  not  prejudicial  to  health;  the  average  of  life 
is  much  the  same  as  in  Great  Britain;  longevity  equally 
common.  The  prevalent  diseases  are  low  lever  and  con- 
sumption. The  mean  temperature  in  the  north  is  48° 
Fahrenheit;  in  the  middle,  50°;  and  in  the  south  52°. 
The  quantity  of  rain  which  falls  annually  in  Ireland,  as 
deduced  from  observations  by  different  authorities  for  a 
stated  number  of  years,  is  as  follows : 

Locality.  Authority.  Av.  of  Years.  Quantity. 

Dublin,  Apjohn,  6  30.89 

Belfast,  Portlock,  6  84.96 

Castlecomer,   Aher,  18  37.80 

Cork,  Smith,  6  40.20 

Cork,  Royal  Inst.,  6  36.03 

Derry,  Sampson,  7  31.12 

Dublin  is  the  driest  and  Cork  the  wettest  of  the  locali- 
ties in  which  observations  have  been  made. 

BOTANY. — Ireland  once  had  the  name  of  the  Island  of 
Woods,  from  being  covered  with  forests,  and  latterly  ac- 
quired the  poetical  name  of  the  Emerald  Isle,  from  the 
perennial  brilliancy  of  its  verdure.  Its  Flora  contains 
some  rare  varieties;  the  arbutus  unedo  flourishes  in  Kil- 
larney;  new  varieties  of  saxifrage  and  of  ferns  have  been 
discovered  in  the  mountains  of  Kerry;  Connemara,  Bel- 
bullen  mountains  in  Sligo,  and  Antrim  county,  abound  in 
scarce  Alpine  plants;  many  rare  and  unknown  species  of 
algJB  have  been  discovered  on  various  parts  of  the  coast. 

ZOOLOGY. — The  elk  or  moose  deer,  was  a  native  of  the 
country  ;  its  bones  have  been  found  in  several  places; 
wolves  were  once  so  numerous  that  a  price  was  set  upon 
them,  and  the  Irish  wolf-dog  was  kept  for  hunting  them. 
Venomous  animals  are  unknown.  The  surrounding  seas 


STATISTICS   OF   IRELAND.  15 

abound  with  fish,  both  rourjd  and  flat;  the  sun-fish  fre- 
quents the  western  coast;  whales  visit  it  occasionally; 
seals  are  common  about  the  precipitous  headlands;  great 
varieties  of  shell-fish  are  taken  along  the  shore. 

POLITICAL  DIVISIONS. — The  country  is  divided  differ- 
ently according  to  its  political,  judicial,  fiscal  and  military 
arrangements.  The  ancient  political  divisions  are  oblit- 
erated, and  it  is  now  divided  into  the  four  provinces  of 
Leinster,  Ulster,  Munster  and  Connaught.  These  are 
sub-divided  into  thirty-two  counties,  besides  the  eight 
small  exempt  jurisdictions  of  Dublin,  Cork,  Limerick, 
Kilkenny,  Waterford,  Galway,  Carrickfergus  and  Drog- 
heda,  the  first  five  of  which  are  styled  counties  of  cities, 
the  remaining  three,  counties  of  towns.  The  counties  are 
divided  into  three  hundred  and  sixteen  baronies,  and 
again  into  two  thousand  four  hundred  and  twenty-two 
parishes.  The  smallest  political  divisions  are  called 
townlands,  and  in  some  parts  of  the  country  ploughlands. 

GOVERNMENT. — The  executive  Government  is  vested 
in  a  Lord  Lieutenant,  sometimes  styled  the  Viceroy,  as 
the  direct  representative  of  the  British  Monarch;  he  is 
assisted  by  a  Privy-Council,  appointed  by  the  Crown  and 
indefinite  in  number,  the  protestant  bishop  of  Meath 
being  always  one  ex-officio;  and  by  a  Chief  Secretary, 
who  must  be  member  of  the  House  of  Commons.  Each 
county  is  in  charge  of  a  Lieutenant,  generally  a  peer,  an 
indefinite  number  of  Deputy  Lieutenants  and  Magistrates, 
who  act  gratuitously;  in  addition,  one  or  more  Stipendiary' 
Magistrates,  all  appointed  by,  and  holding  their  commis- 
sions at  the  pleasure  of  the  Crown.  The  counties  of 
cities  and  towns,  and  the  boroughs,  are  governed  by  their 
own  Magistrates.  The  details  of  the  execution  of  the  laws 
are  committed  to  the  constabulary  in  the  counties,  and 
the  police  in  Dublin. 

THE  CONSTABULARY  FORCE  an  armed  and  well  drilled 
body  of  light  infantry;  consists  of  an  Inspector  General, 
two  Deputy  Inspectors  General,  two  Assistant  Inspectors 
General,  a  Receiver,  Surgeon,  Veterinary  Surgeon, 
eighteen  Paymasters,  thirty-five  County  Inspectors,  two 
hundred  and  forty-seven  Sub-Inspectors,  three  hundred 


16  STATISTICS    OF   IRELAND. 

and  thirty-two  Head  Constables,  two  thousand  and  ninety- 
five  Constables,  and  nine  thousand  five  hundred  and  three 
Sub-Constables;  total,  twelve  thousand  two  hundred  and 
twelve,  with  three  hundred  and  forty-four  horses. 

THE  DUBLIN  METROPOLITAN  POLICE  FORCE  consists 
of  two  Commissioners,  seven  Superintendents,  twenty-six 
Inspectors,  forty-two  Detectives,  one  hundred  and  forty- 
seven  Sergeants,  nine  hundred  and  ten  Constables;  total, 
one  thousand  one  hundred  and  thirty-six. 

REPRESENTATION. — The  country  is  represented  in  the 
Imperial  Parliament  by  28  Temporal  Peers,  and  103  Com- 
moners, of  which  latter  class  69  represent  the  3v  counties; 
2  Dublin  University;  12  the  cities  and  towns  of  Dublin, 
Cork,  Limerick,  Waterford,  Belfast  and  Galway;  and  20 
the  burroughs. 

By  an  act  passed  in  1850,  in  addition  to  those  persons 
previously  qualified  to  register  and  vote  in  county  elec- 
tions, occupiers  of  any  tenements  rated  in  the  last  poor 
rate  at  a  net  annual  value  of  twelve  pounds  and  upwards, 
are  entitled  to  vote  in  elections  for  counties  also  owners 
of  certain  estates  of  the  rated  annual  value  of  five  pounds; 
occupiers  in  Burroughs  rated  in  the  last  poor  rate  at  8 
pounds  and  upwards  were  entitled  to  vote  subject  to  cer- 
tain limitations;  the  act  passed  in  1808  to  amend  the  rep- 
resentation of  the  people  makes  no  alteration  in  the  county 
franchise,  but  for  cities,  towns  and  burroughs,  it  reduces 
the  eight  pound  occupation  to  a  lodging  of  any  amount 
more  than  four  pounds,  and  introduces  a  new  franchise  by 
which  any  lodger  who  has  occupied  as  sole  tenant  for  the 
twelve  months  proceeding  the  20th  of  July,  in  any  year 
of  a  clear  yearly  value,  if  let  unfurnished,  of  ten  pounds  or 
upwards. 

The  polling  at  contested  elections  is  now  for  one  day 
only,  the  number  of  electors  on  the  register  are  173.860; 
53,590  for  cities  and  boroughs,  exclusive  of  3.323  for 
Dublin  University. 

JUDICIAL  DIVISIONS. — The  judicial  establishment  con- 
sists of  the  Lord  Chancellor,  the  Master  of  the  Rolls, 
four  Judges  in  each  of  the  courts  of  Queen's  Bench, 
Common  Pleas,  and  Exchequer,  those  of  the  Exchequer, 


STATISTICS    OF   IRELAND.  17 

being  called  Barons ;  an  assistant  Barrister  for  each 
county,  a  Bankrupt  court  with  two  Judges,  two  com- 
missioners of  the  Insolvent's  Court,  the  Judge  of  the 
Prerogative  Court  and  of  the  Admiralty.  The  Superior 
Courts  are  all  held  in  Dublin.  Two  of  the  Judges  hold 
assizes  for  criminal  and  civil  pleas  in  each  county,  in 
spring  and  summer  every  year,  for  which  purpose  the 
country  is  divided  into  six  circuits.  Two  of  the  Judges 
also  hold  a  general  jail  delivery  for  Dublin  every  six 
weeks.  There  are  five  hundred  and  sixty-seven  Petty 
Sessions  Courts  in  Ireland.  There  are  thirty-four  county 
prisons,  ten  city  or  town  prisons,  and  one  hundred  and 
eleven  bridewells. 

FISCAL  DIVISIONS. — The  country  is  divided  for  the 
collection  of  Revenues,  according  to  different  arrange- 
ments in  the  customs,  excise,  transfer  and  post  office  de- 
partments. 

MILITARY  DIVISIONS. — The  staff  of  Ireland  consists  of 
the  departments  of  Commander  of  the  Forces,  Adjutant- 
General,  and  Quartermaster-General  ;  under  which  are 
those  of  the  Judge  advocate  and  Medical  Director  Gen- 
eral. The  military  divisions  are  according  to  the  follow- 
ing districts  : 

For  General  Service. — Belfast  District — Headquar- 
ters, BeKast;  Dublin,  ditto,  Dublin;  Athlone,  ditto,  Ath- 
lone;  Limerick,  ditto,  Limerick;  Kilkenny,  ditto,  Kil- 
kenny; Cork,  ditto,  Cork. 

For  Recruiting  Service. — Northern  Headquarters, 
Kerry;  Centre,  Dublin;  Southern,  Cork. 

MILITIA. — The  militia  of  Ireland,  when  embodied,  con- 
sists of  12  regiments  of  artillery,  211  officers,  210  non- 
commissioned officers,  4,872  men;  21  regiments  of  in- 
fantry, 663  officers,  704  non-commissioned  officers,  16,897 
men,  14  rifle  corps,  351  officers,  364  non-commissioned 
officers,  8,231  men;  total,  30,000  men,  with  1,225  officers. 

LANDED  PROPERTY. 

The  following  table  gives  the  several  territorial  divi- 
sions, and  acreable  extent  of  each  province  and  county 
of  Ireland: 
2 


18 


STATISTICS    OF    IRELAND. 


TERRITORIAL  DIVISIONS. 
Townland  Valuation  Report. 

ACREABLE 
EXTENT. 

Counties  and 
Provinces.     Counties  of  Cities 
and  Towns. 

No.  of 
Baronies.    Parishes- 

Total  Area. 

f   1.  Carlow 

7 

47 

221,342 

2.  DroghedaT. 

— 

See  No.  10 

472 

3.  Dublin 
4                Citv 

10 

.99 

226,414 

5.  Kildare 

14 

116 

418.436 

6.  Kilkenny 

11 

140 

509,732 

"?                   nu^. 

LEINSTER.  -{    8.  Kings 

12 

51 

493,985 

9.  Longford  . 

6 

26 

269,409 

10.  Louth 

6 

64 

201,434 

11.  Meath 

18 

146 

579,899 

12.  Queens 

11 

53 

424.854 

13.  Westmeath 

12 

63 

453,468 

14.  Wexford  . 

9 

144 

576,588 

1  15.  Wicklow  . 

8 

59 

500,178 

Total     . 

124 

1,008 

4,876,211 

f  1.  Clare 

11 

80 

827,994 

2.  Cork 

23 

251 

1,846,3:33 

|    3.  -  -  City  . 

— 

— 



I    4.  Kerry 

8 

87 

1,186,126 

MUN8TER.  -{    5.  Limerick  . 

13 

131 

680,842 

6.  City  . 

— 

— 



7.  Tipperary 
8.  Waterford 

12 

8 

193 

82 

1,061,731 
461,553 

^9.  City 

— 

— 



Total, 

75 

824 

6,064,579 

1.  Antrim 

15 

75 

745,177 

2.  Armagh 

8 

28 

328,076 

3.  Car.  fergus  T. 

— 

See  No.  1 

16,7iK) 

4.  Cavan 

8 

36 

477,360 

ULSTER.       • 

5.  Donegal 
6.  Down 

6 
10 

51 

70 

1,193,443 
612,495 

7.  Fermanagh 

8 

23 

457,195 

8.  Londonderry 

6 

43 

518,595 

9.  IVlonaghan 

5 

23 

319,757 

.10.  Tyrone 

4 

42 

806,640 

Total, 


70 


391 


5,475,438 


STATISTICS   OF 

IKELAXD. 

19 

11.  Galwav 

18 

120 

1,566,354 

O                      T,, 

3.  Leitrim 

5 

17 

392,363 

4.  Mayo 

9 

73 

1,363,882 

5.  Roscommon 

9 

58 

607,691 

6.  Sligo 

6 

41 

461,753 

Total, 

47 

309 

4,392,043 

Total  Ireland, 

316 

2,532 

20,808,271 

Proper- 
Division  of  Surface.    Lcinster.    Munster.    Ulster.    Connaught.    Ireland,    tion   to 

100. 


Arable.           .          . 

3,961.183 

3,874,613 

3,407,539 

2,220.960 

13.464,300 

64.7 

Uncultivated,        . 

731,886 

1.893.477 

1,764,370 

1,906.002 

6,295,735 

30.3 

Plantations,     . 

115,9*4 

130,4  '5 

79,783 

48,340 

374,482 

1.7 

Towns.       .           . 

15,569 

14,693 

8,790 

3.877 

42,929 

0.3 

Water, 

51,62-1 

151,381 

214,9.36 

212,864 

630,825 

3. 

Total, 

4,876,211 

6,064,579 

5.475.438 

4.392.043 

20.808.271 

100. 

The  quantity  of  uncultivated  land  is  stated  in  the  re- 
port on  the  Occupation  of  Land  in  Ireland,  on  the  author- 
ity of  Mr.  Griffith,  to  be  6,290,000  acres,  of  which  the 
improvable  and  unimprovable  portions  are: 


Leinster. 

Munster. 

Ulster. 

Connaught. 

Total. 

Improvable  tor  Tillage, 
"    Pasture, 
Unimprovable,       .       . 

Total,       .       .       . 

186.000 
315,000 
200,000 

390,000 
630,000 
873,000 

419,000 
629,000 
712,000 

430,000 
726.000 
750,000 

1,425,000 
2,330.000 
2,535,000 

731,000 

1,893,000 

1,760,000 

1,906,000 

6,290,000 

Mr.  McCulloch,  in  the  last  edition  of  his  valuable  Com- 
mercial Dictionary,  gives  the  following  account  of  the 
extent  of  land  in  Ireland  under  the  principal  description 
of  crops,  the  average  rate  of  produce  per  acre,  the  total 
produce,  the  amount  of  seed,  the  produce  under  deduc- 
tion of  seed,  and  the  total  value  of  such  produce: 


Crops. 

Acres  in 

Crop. 

Produce 
per  Acre. 
Qrs. 

Total 
Produce. 
Qrs. 

Wheat,           ..... 
Harlev,     ..... 
Oats,               ..... 

450,000 
400,000 
2,500,000 
.   2,000,000 

3 

s« 

5 

1  .350,000 
1.400,000 
12,500,000 

Flax  

100,000 

Total,        ....  .    5,765,000  15,250,000 


20 


STATISTICS    OF    IRELAND. 


Seed,  l-6th  of  Produce, 
Qrs. 

Produce  under  deduction  of  seed. 
Qrs. 

Total  value. 

225,000 
233.338 
2,083,333 

1.125,000 
1,166,667 

10.416.667 

£2,5S7,500 
1,51(5,667 

10,416.667 
12,000,0(K» 
1,500,000 
180.000 

12.T08.334  £28,200,834 

The  average  crops  of  tne  cultivated  land,  as  calculated 
from  those  of  the  nine  agricultural  districts  into  which 
Wakefield  classes  Ireland,  are  as  follows,  per  statute 
acre: 

Wheat,       142  Ibs.  seed  give  1,300  Ibs.  or  9.15  Ibs.  for  1. 
Barley,        145  "         "     1,820  "         12.55          " 

Oats,  196  "         "     1,734  «  8.85          " 

Potatoes,  1,404          "         «  13,869  "  9.73 

POPULATION — By  report  of  Census  Commissioners  in 
1841,  8,196,597—1851,  6,574,278;  1861,  5,798,967;  1871, 
5,412,377.  The  total  population  on  the  night  of  the  2d 
of  April,  1871,  amounted  to  5.  412,377;  the  sexes  being 
2,639,753  males,  2,772,624  females,  or  386,590  less  than 
that  returned  for  the  7th  of  April  1861,  being  a  decrease 
of  66.7  per  cent,  during  the  last  ten  years.  These  num- 
bers include  the  men  of  the  army  and  navy  serving  in 
Ireland  on  the  night  of  the  2d  of  April,  1871,  as  well  as 
the  wives  and  families  of  such  persons. 

The  following  is  the  summary  by  provinces  of  the  num- 
ber .of  persons  in  the  four  last  enumerations: 


Provinces. 

1841. 

Population. 
1851.               1861. 

1871. 

LEINSTER,          .... 

1,982,169 

1,682,320 
1  ,s65,fiOO 
2.013,879 
1,012,479 

1,457.635 
1,513.553 
1,914,236 
913,135 

1.339.451 
1.393.4HA 
1,833,22s 
846,2111 

ULSTER,            .... 

2,389.263 
1,420,705 

T'.tnK 


8,196.597        6,574,273        6,793,967        5,412,377 


Decrease    1S41  to  1851.     Decrease     1851  to  1861.     Decrease     1861  to  1871 
Provinces.      Persons.     Rate  per  ct.     Persons.     Rate  per  ct.     Persons.    Rate  per  ct. 


LEINSTER, 

299,849 

15.13 

221,685 

13.36 

118,184 

8.11 

MVNSTER, 

538,860 

22.41 

352,042 

18.87 

120,073 

7.W3 

ULSTER, 

37.>,*>4 

15.71 

99.643 

4.95 

81.208 

4.23 

COMNAUOHT, 

408,226 

38,73 

99.344 

9.81 

66.922 

7.33 

6.67 


1.C22.819  19.79  775,714  11.79  386,590 

Between  1841  and  1851  the  population  decreased  about  1.5. 1,979  persons  in  every  100; 
from  1851  to  1861, 11.79:  ami  truiu  1861  to  1871,  6.67  per  cent. 


STATISTICS    OF   IRELAND.  21 

BIRTHPLACES  OF  THE  PEOPLE. — Distributed  as  to 
birthplace,  the  inhabitants  of  Ireland  returned  in  the 
census  report  range  into  three  classes,  viz:  natives  in 
Ireland  residing  in  other  than  their  native  counties  ; 
secondly,  natives  of  Great  Britain,  and  thirdly,  persons 
born  abroad.  Dealing  firstly  with  the  movement  of  the 
Irish  born  population,  it  appears  that  of  the  total  number 
of  inhabitants  in  1871,  500,798,  or  94  per  cent,  na- 
tives of  Ireland,  resided  elsewhere  than  in  their  native 
counties  ;  88,199  persons,  native  of  Great  Britain,  in- 
cluding 67,881  natives  of  England  and  Wales,  2,318 
natives  of  Scotland,  were  included  in  the  population  of 
Ireland  upon  the  census  night,  and  there  were  17,010 
persons  comprising  8,367  natives  of  the  colonies  and 
India,  8,643  foreigners.  While,  lastly,  411  persons 
enumerated  in  Ireland  in  1871,  were  returned  as  born  at 
sea.  A  decline  of  seven  per  cent,  in  the  number  of 
children  between  the  ages  of  one  and  five  years,  took 
place  between  the  years  1861  and  1871,  whereas  between 
1851  and  1861  an  increase  of  nine  per  cent,  had  taken 
place.  The  number  of  centenarians  returned  on  the  cen- 
sus forms,  in  1871  amounted  to  724 — 259  males,  465  fe- 
males. Of  this  number  89  were  in  the  province  of  Lein- 
ster,  288  in  Munster,  225  Ulster,  122  in  Connaught. 

DWELLINGS  OF  THE  PEOPLE. — The  census  commissioners 
of  1841  divided  the  dwellings  of  the  people  into  four 
classes.  The  fourth  class  comprised  all  mud  cabins 
having  only  one  room;  the  third  class  consisted  of  a  bet- 
ter description  built  of  mud,  but  varying  from  two  to 
four  rooms  and  windows;  the  second  were  good  farm 
houses,  or  in  town,  houses  having  from  five  to  nine  rooms 
and  windows;  the  first  class  included  all  houses  of  a  bet- 
ter description.  The  following  table  shows  the  house 
accommodation  in  Ireland  in  1841,  1851,  1861  and  1871: 

NUMBER  OP  INHABITED  HOUSES. 

1841.  1851.  1861.  1871. 

First  Class,        .        .        40,080  50,164  55,416  60,919 

Second  Class,        .        .  264,134  818, 7^.8  360,698  387,663 

Third  Class,       .        .       538,297  541,712  489,668  357,126 

Fourth  Class,        .        .  491,278  135,589  89,374  155,675 

Total,  1,328,839     1,046,223       995,156      961,380 


22  STATISTICS    OF   IRELAND. 

Taking  the  inhabited  houses  for  the  whole  of  Ireland 
there  were  11.0  families  in  each  house;  in  1851  11.5  fami- 
lies; in  1861,  11.3,  and  in  1871,  11.1. 

FAMILIES. — The  total  number  of  persons  returned  in 
1871  as  heads  of  families  with  their  children,  were  4,307,- 
101,  of  whom  2,155,578  were  males,  2,151,523  females; 
residing  with  these  816,365  visitors,  368,240  were  males 
and  448,125  females;  the  servants  numbered  288,911 
persons,  of  whom  115,935  were  males,  172,976  were 
females.  The  proportion  per  cent,  of  heads  of  families 
and  their  children  to  the  population  was  in  1871,  82 
males  and  78  females.  Combinedly  80  persons  in  every 
100  were  returned  as  heads  of  families  with  their  chil- 
dren. The  proportion  in  1841  was  81;  in  1851,  79,  and 
in  1861,  82  per  cent.  The  decrease  in  the  number  of 
families  is  most  apparent  in  the  counties  of  Waterford, 
Limerick,  Tipperary,  Kings  and  Kilkenny.  It  has  been 
least  in  the  province  of  Ulster,  where  it  only  amounts  to 
9,652  of  2.6  per  cent.;  and  increase  of  the  number  of 
families  has  taken  place  in  the  towns  of  Belfast  and  Cor- 
rickfergus,  the  city  of  Dublin  and  the  counties  of  Dub- 
lin, Antrim,  Armagh  and  Sligo.  The  average  number 
of  persons  to  a  family  was  5.54  in  the  year  1841;  in  1851, 
5.44;  in  1861,  5.14,  and  in  1871,  5.07.  In  the  city  of  Dub- 
lin, within  the  municipal  boundary,  while  the  population 
has  decreased  8,482  persons,  the  number  of  inhabited 
houses  has  increased  by  1,027. 

CONDITION  AS  TO  MARRIAGE. — Of  the  total  popula- 
tion of  1871,  of  those  17  years  of  age  and  upwards, 
amounting  to  3,272,052  persons,  1,348,418,  or  41.2  in 
every  100,  were  unmarried;  1,564,339 — 47.8  per  cent, 
married,  and  359,295 — 11.0  per  cent,  widowed.  Com- 
pared with  the  returns  of  1851  and  1861,  the  portion  of 
the  unmarried  was  less  in  1871  than  at  either  of  the 
two  former  periods.  Of  the  Provinces,  Leinster  had  the 
largest  relative  number — 45.2  per  cent,  of  bachelors 
and  spinsters  in  1871;  Ulster  was  next  in  order,  with 
43.0  per  cent.;  Munster  followed  by  37.4  per  cent.,  and 
Connaught  with  only  36.6  per  cent.  Leinster  and 


STATISTICS   OF   IRELAND.  23 

Munster  had  the   largest   proportion   of  widowers   and 
widows,  and  Ulster  and  Connaught  the  least. 

SANITAKY  CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE. — The  follow- 
ing table  shows  the  number  of  people  sick  at  the  date 
of  taking  the  census,  April  2,  1871:  Sick  at  their  own 
homes  in  civic  districts,  5,556;  in  rural  districts,  34,198j 
sick  in  Infirmaries,  Hospitals,  Lunatic  Asylums,  Jails^, 
etc.,  12,080;  sick  in  Work-house  and  Work-house  Hos- 
pital, 19,778.  Total,  71,612;  being  a  per  centage  of 
1.3  to  the  population. 

DEAF  AND  DUMB,  IDIOTIC,  BLIND  AND  LUNATIC. — The 
following  is  the  ratio  of  the  deaf  arid  dumb,  blind,  lu- 
natic, and  idiotic: 

1851.      1861.     1871. 

Deaf  and  dumb,  one  person  in  every  1,265       1,026        974 

Blind,  "        "          "  864          843        851 

Insane,  "        "          "  1,^91          821        554 

Idiotic,  "        "          "  1,336         825        802 

OCCUPATION. — The  following  table  shows  the  occupa- 
tions of  the  people  in  Ireland  in  1871: 

CLASS.  MALES.          FEMALES.  TOTAL. 

First,  professional,  115,115  37,745  152,860 
Second,  domestic,  34,517  705,678  717,495 
Third,  commercial,  88,464  17,155  105,619 
Fourth,  agriculture,  891,890  17  >,118  1,062,008 
Fifth,  industrial,  288,894  249,241  538,135 
.Sixth,  indefinite  and  non-pro- 
ductive, 1,220,873  1,592,687  2,813,560 


Totals,  2,639,753      2,272,624        5,412,377 

The  latter  class  now  comprises  a  large  number  of  per- 
sons of  no  stated  occupation,  and  children  and  scholars 
under  fifteen  years  of  age,  who  in  previous  reports  had 
been  tabulated  under  class  two. 

EDUCATION. — The  total  number  of  persons  5  years  old 
and  upwards  in  1841,  who  were  unable  to  read  and  write, 
was  3766,066;  of  53  per  cent,  in  1851,  the  proportion  had 
fallen  to  47  per  cent.,  and  in  1861  it  was  further  reduced 
to  39  per  cent.,  and  in  1871  to  33  per  cent,  showing  a 
decrease  during  the  period  of  18^1  and  1871  of  20  per 


24  STATISTICS   OF   IRELAND. 

cent.;  those  who  could  read  only,  were  on  the  same  pro- 
portion in  1861,  as  in  1851,  20  per  cent.,  which  was  an  in- 
crease of  1  per  cent,  only  since  1841;  in  1871  the  per- 
centage was  17.3;  those  who  could  write  as  well  as  read, 
advanced  from  28  per  cent,  in  1841,  to  33  in  1851,  and  to 
41  in  1861,  being  an  increase,  between  1851  and  1861  of 
8  per  cent.,  and  between  1841  and  1861  of  13  per  cent. 
In  1871  the  percentage  was  49,  being  an  increase  between 
1861  and  1871  of  8  per  cent.,  and  between  1841  and 
1871  of  as  much  as  21  per  cent. 

PROPRIETORS  OF  LAND  IN  IRELAND  IN  1870. — The  to- 
tal number  of  proprietors — a  parliamentary  return — was 
19,547,  owning  20,046,182  acres.  Of  this  number,  2,973 
are  absentee  proprietors,  owning  5,129,169  acres,  the  an- 
nual value  of  which,  for  taxing  purposes,  is  $2,470,816. 
This  return,  it  should  be  noted,  is  confined  only  to  the 
owners  of  property  in  country  or  rural  districts;  the  own- 
ers of  all  lands  and  buildings  in  cities,  towns  and  town- 
ships, have  not  been  acertained. 

EMIGRATION  FROM  IRELAND. — In  the  decennial  period 
ending  with  1861, 1,227,710  Irish  born  persons  emigrated 
from  Ireland;  and  in  the  ten  years  from  1st  April,  1861, 
to  31st  March,  1871,  819,903  Irish  born  persons  emi- 
grated from  different  ports.  To  emigration  may  chiefly 
be  attributed  the  decrease  of  population,  during  a  period 
when  the  country  was  remarkably  free  from  any  outbreak 
of  pestilence,  scarcity  of  food,  or  of  the  other  social  ca- 
lamities, which  have  occasionally  retarded  the  growth  of 
population  in  this  and  other  countries.  It  must  also  be 
remembered  that  some  of  the  remote  effects  of  the  disas- 
trous period  of  famine,  pestilence  and  panic,  which  eom- 
menced  with  the  potato  blight  of  1845-46,  had  extended 
over  the  first  few  years  of  the  decade  of  1851.  Assuming 
that  the  inciease  of  population  by  births  over  deaths  was 
at  the  rate  of  92  per  cent,  per  annum,  as  stated  in  former 
census  reports  emanating  from  this  country,  the  popula- 
tion of  Ireland  would — had  no  disturbing  cause  interven- 
ed— have  been  about  6,297,275.  It  is  therefore  proba- 


STATISTICS   OF    IRELAND.  25 

ble  that  the  decrease  of  the  population  may  be  accounted 
for  by  the  very  great  emigration  as  stated  above. 

PAUPERS. — It  is  here  worthy  of  remark,  that  at  the  time 
of  taking  the  census  in  1851,  there  was  no  less  than  250,- 
611  paupers  in  the  Irish  workhouses,  and  47,019  persons 
in  hospital,  of  whom  4,545  were  not  work-house  inmates; 
— that  in  1861,  the  numbers  in  work-houses,  healthy  and 
sick,  were  only  50,010,  while  there  were  but  48,989  per- 
sons in  the  Irish  work-houses  the  day  before  the  census 
was  taken  in  1871. 


ANTIQUITY   OF   ITS    CIVILIZATION. 

Much  has  been  written  and  sung  concerning  the  pre- 
historic days  and  men  of  Ireland.  Tradition  tells  us  of 
successive  descents  upon  the  Island  by  people  from  the 
East,  each  successive  colony  exterminating  its  prede- 
cessor. Though  the  Romans  occupied  England  during 
several  centuries  they  never  crossed  the  channel  to  Ire- 
land. Consequently  Irish  history  lacks  that  confirma- 
tion or  evidence  which  the  Romans  left  concerning 
England  and  the  other  lands  they  conquered  during  the 
wide  extension  of  their  Empire.  The  first  government 
of  which  any  mention  is  made  is  that  of  a  monarchy. 
The  rulers  were  kings,  and  the  bards,  judges  and  other 
officials  were  taken  from  the  Druid  priests;  of  course  the 
military  chieftain  was  conspicious.  Druidism  was  the 
religion  of  the  Pagan  days.  What  is  known  of  these 
ages  is  but  the  story  of  a  succession  of  wars,  including 
military  excursions  on  the  continent  for  prey  or  for  hire,  or 
perhaps  for  both.  It  was  on  one  of  these  military  adven- 
tures into  Gaul,that  among  the  captured  prisoners  brought 
into  Ireland,was  a  lad,who  in  after  days  became  the  Chris- 
tian Apostle,  whose  name  is  so  indelibly  impressed  upon 
the  hearts  of  the  Irish  people, — the  great  Saint  Patrick. 
The  story  runs  that  Patrick  was  a  native  of  Gaul;  that 
King  Nial  captured  him  with  other  prisoners,  who  were 
taken  to  Ireland  and  made  slaves;  that  he  was  placed  in 
charge  over  flocks.  This  was  about  A.  D.  405;  seven 
years  later  he  was  made  free;  after  his  return  to  Britany 
he  entered  the  Christian  priesthood,  and  in  433  he  came 


FORM   OF   EARLY   GOVERNMENT.  27 

back  to  Ireland,  preaching  to  his  pagan  captors  the  reli- 
gion of  the  Savior.  St.  Patrick's  life  extended  until  the 
year  493,  and  thus  he  witnessed  the  conversion  of  the 
whole  people,  and  the  establishment  of  the  Christian 
faith. 

During  the  days  of  Patrick,  the  constitution  or  su- 
preme law  of  Ireland  was  compiled.  At  that  time  the 
island  was  divided  into  four  provinces,  in  each  of  which 
was  a  king;  a  fifth  principality  was  held  by  a  king,  superior 
in  rank  and  authority,  and  monarch  of  all  Ireland.  Each 
province  had  its  numerous  chieftains.  These  kings  were 
elective,  but  always  taken  from  the  nobility.  The  crown 
of  Ireland,  from  the  time  of  the  conversion  by  St.  Pat- 
rick, was  held  by  the  family  subsequently  known  as 
O'Neill,  during  the  first  five  Christian  centuries.  Yet 
during  all  this  time  the  monarch  was  chosen  by  an  elec- 
tion of  the  inferior  kings  and  princes.  An  annual  assem- 
bly of  the  dignitaries  of  the  kingdom  was  held  during 
the  time  of  the  Druids,  the  chief  priests  holding  high 
rank  in  the  national  council.  The  monarch  presided, 
and  besides  the  priests  were  the  chiefs  and  military 
champions.  Subsequently  the  Christian  clergy  took  the 
places  in  these  assemblies,  formerly  held  by  the  Druids. 
The  constitution  recited  the  privileges  and  rights  of  the 
five  kings,  and  also  set  forth  with  great  particularity  the 
prohibitions  or  restraints  upon  the  prerogatives  of  rov- 
alty. 

As  early  as  258  there  was  an  emigration  from  Ireland 
to  Scotland;  others  followed,  and  these  migrations  con- 
tinued from  time  to  time  until  in  503  the  Irish  had  es- 
tablished a  numerous  settlement  in  Rosshire  and  Perth. 
The  later  colonists  were  Christians,  and  in  565  St.  Co- 
lumba,  of  the  Royal  family  of  O'Neill  of  Ireland,  accom- 
panied by  other  Christian  priests,  crossed  over  into  Scot- 
land, and  there  successfully  Christianized  the  inhabitants, 
including  the  Irish  colonists  as  well  as.the  Picts,  and  oth- 
ers inhabiting  Scotland. 

In  the  year  797  occurred  the  first  invasion  of  Ireland 
by  the  Danes.  Preceding  this  time,  however,  Ireland 
had  made  great  material  progress.  Though  essentially  a 


28  THE  LAND  WAS  THE  PROPERTY  OF  THE  CLANS. 

military  monarchy,  and  all  bearing  allegiance  and  fealty 
to  the  monarch,  there  was  a  vast  difference  between  that 
fealty  and  the  feudalism  of  subsequent  times. 

THE  LAND  WAS  NOT   THE   PROPERTY    OP    THE    SINGJ 

nor  was  it  the  property  of  the  chieftain  or  local  subordinate 
Prince.  It  was  the  property  of  the  clan,  or  the  family, 
and  was  held  for  the  common  benefit  of  the  clan.  Those 
who  worked  or  cultivated  it,  though  not  holding  it  by  an 
exclusive  or  individual  right  or  title,  held  it  as  members 
of  a  community,  and  could  not  be  dispossessed  nor  be 
deprived  of  the  fruits  of  their  labor. 

In  the  centuries  from  the  conversion  of  the  Irish,  to  the 
Danish  invasion,  Ireland  had  been  blessed  with  many 
able,  learned  and  wise  men.  Christianity  had  removed 
many  of  the  barbarous  practices  of  Druidism,  and  Chris- 
tianity had  softened  the  hearts  of  the  people  by  the  gen- 
tler doctrines  of  the  Prince  of  Peace.  The  clergy,  them- 
selves an  educated  class,  established  and  encouraged 

THE    ESTABLISHMENT     OF  SCHOOLS. 

The  teachers  for  these  schools  were  the  product  of  the 
monasteries  of  Ireland  and  of  Scotland.  So  great  was 
the  celebrity  attained  through  Europe  by  these  schools 
that  thousands  of  pupils  were  sent  thither  from  all 
parts  of  the  continent.  It  is  claimed  that  during  the 
period  from  the  year  550  to  750,  the  schools  of  Ire- 
land had  attained  great  eminence.  McGee  writes, 
concerning  the  intellectual  leadership  in  Western  Europe: 
"  From  the  middle  of  the  sixth  to  the  middle  of  the 
eighth  century,  it  will  hardly  be  disputed  that  the  lead- 
ership devolved  on  Ireland.  All  the  circumstances  of  the 
sixth  century  helped  to  confer  it  upon  the  newly  con- 
verted western  isle;  the  number  of  her  schools,  and  the 
wisdom,  energy  and  zeal  of  her  masters,  retained  for  her 
the  proud  distinction  for  two  hundred  years.  And  when 
it  passed  away  from  her  grasp,  she  might  still  console 
herself  with  the  grateful  reflection  that  the  power  she  had 
founded  and  exercised  was  divided  among  British  and 
continental  schools,  which  her  own  alumni  had  largely 


STATE   OF   EDUCATION   UNDER   NATIVE   GOVERNMENT.    29 

contributed  to  form  and  establish."  A  long  list  of  the 
principal  schools  in  successful  operation,  and  liberally 
endowed  by  private  contribution,  is  of  record  in  all  the 
histories  of  that  time.  These  large  educational  estab- 
lishments were  generally  located  on  the  banks  of  rivers, 
in  order  to  be  easy  of  access.  They  were  free  schools, 
giving  in  addition  to  instruction,  free  board  and  lodging  and 
books  to  all  from  foreign  lands.  These  scholastic  establish- 
ments were  extensive,  and  several  of  them  were  attended 
at  times  by  one,  two,  and  even  as  high  as  seven  thousand 
students.  Students  and  teachers  formed  the  population 
of  large  villages.  The  buildings  (of  wood)  were  erected 
in  long  lines  forming  streets.  The  students,  besides  the 
Irish,  spoke  "  the  tongues  of  the  Gaul,  the  Cimbri,  the  Pict, 
the  Saxon,  and  Frank."  The  curriculum  included  "  the 
languages  of  the  country,  and  the  language  of  the  Ro- 
man church;  the  languages  of  scripture — Greek  and  He- 
brew; the  logic  of  Aristotle,  the  writings  of  the  Fathers, 
the  defective  physics  of  the  period  ;  mathematics,  music, 
and  poetical  composition."  A  writer  says:  "  When  we 
remember  that  all  the  books  were  manuscripts  ;  that  even 
paper  had  not  yet  been  invented  ;  that  the  best  parch- 
ment was  equal  to  so  much  beaten  gold,  and  a  perfect 
MS.  was  worth  a  King's  ransom,  we  may  better  estimate 
the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  the  scholar  of  the  seventh 
century." 

The  glory,  the  peace  and  the  high  intellectual  charac- 
ter of  Ireland  at  this  time  was  soon  to  be  disturbed. 
From  794  to  £24,  the  Island  was  subjected  to 

INVASIONS    BY   THE    DANES. 

These  hardy  mariners,  the  pirates  of  that  age,  would 
leave  their  homes  in  the  early  spring,  land  on  the  coasts  of 
the  islands  and  mainlands,  live  riotously  during  the  sum- 
mer, and  in  the  fall  carry  back  with  them  the  spoils  of  the 
Summer.  In  830,  they  sacked  and  burned  the  school 
buildings  at  Bangor  (Belfast)  then  the  largest  established 
college  in  Ireland.  They  captured  nearly  all  the  cities, 
but  not  until  837  did  they  undertake  a  permanent  lodg- 
ment in  the  country,  remaining  there  during  the  ^winter. 


30  INVASIONS   OF   THE   NORSEMEN. 

"  To  the  Vikings  of  Norway  the  fertile  Island,"  writes  an 
historian,  "  with  which  they  were  now  so  familiar,  whose 
woods  were  bent  with  the  autumnal  load  of  acorns,  mast 
and  nuts,  and  filled  with  numerous  herds  of  swine — their 
favorite  food — whose  pleasant  meadows  were  well  stored 
with  beeves  and  oxen,  whose  winter  was  often  as  mild  as 
their  northern  summer,  and  whose  waters  were  as  fruit- 
ful in  fish  as  their  own  Lofoden  friths;  to  these  men  this 
was  a  prize  worth  fighting  for;  and  for  it  they  fought  long 
and  desperately."  The  first  invaders  were  from  Norway, 
and  these  predatory  visitations  continued  from  794  to  847. 
Then  the  expeditions  were  sometimes  of  Danes,  again  of 
Norwegians,  and  frequently  of  both,  and  their  settlements 
became  more  and  more  permanent.  For  a  period,  the 
Scandinavian  incursions  were  less  frequent.  The  wars 
of  Harold  the  "  Fair  haired"  King  of  Norway,  kept  his 
fighting  countrymen  at  home,  but  at  the  same  time  many 
of  his  vanquished  Danish,  Swedish  and  Norwegian  ene- 
mies found  refuge  and  permanent  lodgment  in  Ireland. 
They  recruited  their  colonies  diligently.  From  this  time 
out,  whatever  may  have  been  the  original  home  of  the  in- 
vaders, they  were  all  styled  Danes.  After  the  death  of 
the  Irish  King,  Flan  of  the  Shannon  in  916,  the  active 
war  with  the  Danes,  then  in  possession  of  a  large  part  of 
the  Island,  was  renewed.  In  the  150  years  that  followed 
the  first  invasion  by  the  Northmen,  there  had  been  many 
changes  in  their  relations  to  the  native  Irish,  while  the 
peaceful  character  of  the  Irish,  their  pastoral  habits  and 
pursuits,  and  especially  their  cultivated  and  educated 
tastes  and  acquirements  had  given  way  and  perished  un- 
der the  demoralizing  presence  of  perpetual  war  with  a 
pagan  people.  Speaking  an  unknown  tongue,  and  hav- 
ing nothing  in  common  with  the  native  race,  the  Irish 
had  become  a  more  warlike  people,  and  these  wars  de- 
veloped many  able  military  as  well  as  civil  rulers.  Dur- 
ing this  time  the  resident  Scandinavians  could  not  fail  to 
be  impressed  with  the  surroundings  in  the  new  land  in 
which  they  had  sought  a  home.  They  begun  to  mingle 
with  the  Christians,  and  christianized  Scandinavians, 
especially  those  born  in  the  Island,  soon,  by  marriage, 


THE    BATTLE   AT    CLONTAEF,    A.  D.    1014.  31 

established  closer  ties  with  the  natives,  and  acquired  the 
language  of  the  Irish.  Thus,  in  the  year  980,  the  chris- 
tianized Danes, — those  born  in  Ireland  accepting  Ireland 
as  their  home  and  country,  nevertheless,  the  general 
scheme  of  the  conquest  of  Ireland  by  the  Norsemen,  and 
the  establishment  there  of  a  Scandinavian  dynasty,  was 
never  abandoned.  The  race  had  been  everywhere  suc- 
cessful. They  had  conquered  in  England  and  Wales. 
They  held  the  Orkneys  and  all  the  northern  isles.  They 
had  alliances  with  Scotland,  which  had  become  a  depen- 
dent country. 

From  A.  D.  1005  to  A.  D.  1010,  were  years  of  peace  in 
Ireland,  the  great  Brian  having  united  in  his  own  person  the 
royal  power  of  Ireland.  A  domestic  dissension  in  1010, 
led  to  a  combination  between  the  discontented  Irish  and 
the  ambitious  Earl  of  Orkney,  and  preparations  were  at 
once  begun  for  an  united  effort  to  conquer  Ireland.  Four 
years  were  occupied,  during  which  the  whole  Danish 
powers  labored  to  so  strengthen  Seguin  of  Orkney  that 
he  might  be  placed  on  the  throne  of  Ireland. 

THE  GREAT  BATTLE  WAS  FOUGHT  AT  CLONTARF, 

on  Good  Friday,  A.  D.  1014.]  It  began  at  dawn  and 
ended  at  sunset.  King  Brian,  whose  name  is  immortal  in 
Irish  hearts  and  Irish  annals,  was  murdered  at  his  tent  by 
a  retreating  body  of  Danes.  The  carnage  was  terrific. 
Though  occasional  visits  were  made  at  intervals,  the 
"  conquest  of  Ireland"  by  the  Danes  ended  at  Clontarf, 
220  years  after  the  first  landing  on  the  Island.  With  the 
death  of  the  great  Brian,  at  Clontarf,  in  the  hour  when 
Ireland  had  triumphed  forever  over  the  danger  of  Danish 
conquests,  and  was  forever  freed  from  the  armed  presence 
of  the  Northmen  who  had  menaced  her  for  over  200 
years.  Ireland  realized  the  weakness  to  which  these  cen- 
turies of  continued  war  had  reduced  her.  For  seven 
years  after  Brian's  death,  Malachy  II  reigned  by  general 
consent;  what  followed  is  thus  forcibly  summarized  by 
McGee: 

"For  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  the  death  of  Malachy 
II,  the  history  of  Ireland  is  mainly  the  history  of  these 


32  INVASION   OF   THE   ANGLO-NOKHANS. 

five  families,  O'Neills,  O'Melaghlins,  McMurroughs,  O'- 
Briens and  O'Connors,  and  for  ages  after  the  Normans 
enter  on  the  scene  the  same  provincialized  spirit,  the 
same  family  ambitions,  feuds,  hates  and  coalitions,  with 
some  exceptional  passages,  characterize  the  whole  his- 
tory; not  that  there  will  be  found  any  want  of  heroism  or 
piety,  or  self-sacrifice,  or  of  any  virtue  or  faculty,  neces- 
sary to  constitute  a  State,  save  and  except  the  power  of 
combination  alone." 

EXIT   THE    DANES.       ENTER   THE    NORMANS. 

Following  Clontarf,  Ireland  was  a  prey  to  the  rivalry  of 
provincial  chiefs.  The  claim  to  the  monarchy  was  asserted 
by  every  claimant  for  the  provincial  thrones.  The  military 
spirit  that  had  grown  powerful  enough  to  expel  the  Dane, 
had  destroyed  the  national  spirit,  and  the  country  was 
torn  by  perpetual  and  vindictive  domestic  strife.  Edu- 
cation, religion,  industry,  the  domestic  virtues — all  had 
felt  the  baleful  effects  of  civil  war.  While  this  natural 
demoralization  and  disintegration  was  going  on  in  Ire- 
land, a  momentous  change  was  taking  place  in  England. 
Fifty  years  after  Brian  was  laid  in  his  tomb,  William  of 
Normandy  had  invaded,  conquered,  and  was  crowned 
King  of  England.  He  brought  with  him  to  his  new  do- 
minion, a  new  language,  new  laws,  new  institutions,  new 
systems,  and  a  new  governing  class.  In  1066  he  was 
proclaimed  King  of  England,  and  his  successors  hold 
sovereign  rule  there  to  the  present  day.  He  took  no 
notice  of  Ireland  ;  his  time  was  divided  between  his  new 
and  his  ancestral  dominions.  While  Ireland  was  weaken- 
ing daily,  her  disunited  sons  were  doing  the  work  of  the 
Normans  for  them.  During  the  reigns  of  William,  Henry 
I  and  Stephen,  extending  from  1066  to  1154,  a  period  of 
88  years,  the  Normans  were  too  busily  engaged  at  home 
to  devote  much  time  to  Irish  conquest,  though  it  was 
always  a  part  of  their  policy. 

In  1154,  the  war  of  succession  in  England  termina- 
ted in  the 

ACCESSION    OF    HENRY   II, 

the  first  of  the  Plantaganets.   This  prince  was  the  most  pol- 


INVASION   OF   THE   ANGLO-NOBMANS.  33 

itic  of  his  day.  He  had  married  the  divorced  wife  of  Louis 
VII,  of  France,  and  was  rich  by  her  possessions  in  Aqui- 
taine.  He  at  once  turned  his  attention  to  Ireland.  Simul- 
taneous with  his  succession  to  the  crown  of  England, 
Adrian  IV  was  elected  Pope.  Adrian  was  an  Englishman 
by  birth.  Henry  and  he  sustained  the  most  intimate  rela- 
tions. Complaints  had  been  made  to  tho  Pope  that  the 
general  decay  in  Ireland  had  extended  to  the  church, 
and  that  a  rigorous  discipline  was  needed  in  the  Island. 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  inducement  or  the  repre- 
sentations made,  Pope  Adrian  granted  to  Henry  a 
license  to  invade  Ireland,  that  the  people  and  the  church 
of  the  latter  might  be  reformed  in  their  morals  and 
otherwise.  This  permit,  cession  or  whatever  it  might  be 
called,  was  granted  almost  immediately  after  the  simul- 
taneous election  of  Adrian  in  Rome,  and  the  succession 
of  Henry  in  England.  The  authority,  whatever  may 
have  been  its  purport  or  intent,  was  not  acted  on  until  a 
much  later  day,  and  the  story  of  the  direct  inducement 
to  the  first  Norman  aggression  was  briefly  stated  as  fol- 
lows: 

Dermid  McMurrough,  King  of  Leinster,  corrupted  the 
integrity  of  O'Ruark,  one  of  his  nobles,  and  was  expelled 
the  country.  He  fled  to  England  ;  King  Henry  was 
absent,  on  his  wife's  estates  in  France.  Dermid  fol- 
followed  him  to  that  place,  and  there  asked  aid  of  the 
English  King  in  the  recovery  of  his  royalty,  and  offering, 
in  return,  his  support  of  England's  conquest.  Henry 
gave  him  a  royal  letter  authorizing  all  his  subjects,  so 
disposed,  to  enlist  in  the  service  of  the  Irish  prince. 
With  this  letter  Dermid  returned  to  England,  and  began 
his  recruiting  in  the  city  of  Bristol,  arid  in  North  Wales. 
The  prince  of  North  Wales  was  the  nephew  of  the  cele- 
brated Vesta,  the  Helen  of  the  Welsh.  Her  story  is  in- 
separable from  that  of  the  Norman  Conquest  of  Ireland. 
She  was  in  her  day  the  most  famous  beauty  in  the  land. 
As  a  girl  she  had  won  the  admiration  of  King  Henry.  Two 
of  her  sons,  Robert  Fitzroy  and  Henry  Fitz  Henry,  were 
recognized  by  their  royal  father.  She  subsequently  was 
married  by  the  King  to  Gerald,  whose  sons  were  Fitz- 
3 


34  THE   NOKMAN    SETTLEMENT. 

geralds  ;  Stephen,  her  second  husband,  whose  children 
were  Fitzstephens  ;  several  of  her  daughters  married, 
whose  children  were  the  founders  of  other  families  whose 
names  bore  the  prefix  of  Fitz. 

Besides  those  mentioned,  the  Norman  branches  were  the 
Fitzwilliams,  of  England  and  Wales,  and  the  Geraldines, 
Graces,  Fitzhenries  and  Fitzmaurices,  of  Ireland. 
These  were  all  brave  and  gallant  soldiers,  adventurers, 
and  ripe  for  any  expedition  offering  profit  or  glory.  These 
persons  all  enlisted  under  Dermid.  At  Bristol  he  met 
the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  or  Richard  de  Clare.  From  the 
strength  of  his  arms  he  was  popularly  called  Strong-bow. 
He  was  a  widower.  Dermid  and  he  made  terms — the 
town  of  Waterford  and  cantreds  of  land  adjoining  was 
to  be  given  to  the  English  adventurers  ;  large  grants  of 
land  were  guaranteed  to  all  men  of  the  rank  of  knights, 
and  Strong-bow  was  to  be  rewarded  with  the  hand  of  the 
daughter  of  the  King  of  Leinster,  with  the  right  of  suc- 
cession to  the  throne.  With  this  force  of  adventurers, 
and  with  such  archers  and  men-at-arms  as  they  could 
muster,  Dermid  landed  in  Ireland  late  in  11.67.  In  the 
following  May,  Fitzstephens  and  others  arrived  with  ad- 
ditional forces. 

THUS  WAS  BEGUN  THE  CONQUEST  OF  IRELAND, 

Over  seven  hundred  years  ago,  and  during  those  seven 
hundred  years  the  Irish  have  unavailingly  protested 
against  the  subjugation,  the  confiscation,  the  cruelty  and 
relentless  severity  with  which  they  have  been  pursued  by 
their  conquerors. 

It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  sketch  to  deal  with  the  de- 
tails of  the  Norman-Irish  struggle.  Henry  II  visited  Ire- 
land in  person  in  1171,  and  "accepted"  the  submission 
and  homage  of  the  nobles  and  people.  But  there  had 
been  no  serious  pretense  that  England  had  established,  or 
Ireland  had  accepted,  a  supremacy.  In  the  meantime, 
the  conquest  went  on,  in  one  form  or  another.  The 
Normans,  who  had  settled  in  Ireland,  found  it  difficult 
to  enforce  their  feudal  claims,  so,  successively,  they  took 
their  place  as  part  of  the  Irish  people,  married  and  inter-- 


HENRY   VIII    ACKNOWLEDGED   KING   OF   IRELAND.       35 

married,  and  became  as  Irish  in  all  things  as  the  native 
Irish.  Henry  II  died  in  1189.  During  the  long  reign 
of  his  successors,  down  to  the  death  of  Henry  VII,  in 
1509,  a  period  of  320  years,  the  work  of  conquest  went 
on,  slowly,  but  progressively.  In  1509  Henry  VIII 
became  King  of  England,  with  Wolsey  as  his  minister. 
The  policy  of  the  minister  was  to  attract  the  support  of 
the  native  chieftains  and  families  as  opposed  to  the 
Anglo-Irish.  The  purely  English  occupation  of  Ireland 
was  reduced  to  small  proportions.  Nevertheless,  at  the 
time  of  the  death  of  Wolsey,  the  condition  of  Ireland 
was  such  that  a  feeling  in  favor  of  a  recognition  of 
Henry  as  King  of  Ireland,  had  become  general  with  all 
classes,  and  so,when  in  June,  1541,  a  parliament  was  sum- 
moned, it  was  largely  attended.  It  embraced  represen- 
tatives of  every  class  and  of  every  faction  in  Ireland. 
Within  three  days  bills  were  passed  declaring  that  Henry 
VIII  and  his  heirs  should  be  king  in  Ireland  ;  and  in 
June  19,  1541,  the  royalty  of  Ireland  was  transferred  to 
the  English  royal  family.  This  act  was  confirmed  by  the 
English  parliament  in  1542,  and  the  union  of  the  two 
nations  was  complete.  There  were  many  Irish,  however, 
who  took  no  part  in  this  action,  and  separate  treaties 
were  made  with  many  of  those  families,  but  still  a  few 
refused  to  the  last. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  Henry,  following  this  election 
of  himself  as  king,  and  the  incorporation  of  Ireland  as  an 
appendage  to  the  crown  of  England,  was  to  distribute 
honors.  The  Irish  chieftains  were  called  to  London,  and 
in  July,  1543,  a  part  of  them  were  created  English  earls. 
The  honors  were  not  empty  ones.  Among  them  he  dis- 
tributed grants  of  the  lands,  abbeys,  and  monasteries  pre- 
viously taken  from  the  church,  their  own  English  law  and 
English  institutions  were  henceforth  to  become  the  law 
and  institutions  of  Ireland.  The  creation  of  the  new  peers 
and  the  issue  of  new  patents  superseding  all  other  titles 
to  the  land,  involved  a  legal  annihilation  of  the  ancient 
land  law  of  Ireland,  and  the  substitution  therefor  of  the 
feudal  system  of  land  tenure,  which  to-day  afflicts  the 
Irish  people. 


36  ANCIENT   IRISH   TENANTRY. 

We  know  what  the  present  law  is,  but  what  the  tenure 
under  which  land  was  held  in  Ireland  down  to  the  date 
of  Henry's  sweeping  assumption  of  sovereignty,  is  thus 
correctly  stated  by  McGee,  in  his  history  of  Ireland. 
(Vol.  1,  p.  363.) 

By  the  Breton  law  every  member  of  a  free  claim  was 
as  truly  a  proprietor  of  the  tribe  land  as  the  chief  him- 
self. He  could  sell  his  share,  or  the  interest  in  it,  to  any 
other  member  of  the  tribe — the  origin,  perhaps,  of  what 
is  now  called  tenant  right;  he  could  not,  however,  sell  to 
a  stranger  without  the  consent  of  the  tribe  and  the  chief. 

The  stranger  coming  in  under  such  an  arrangement, 
held  by  a  special  tenure,  yet  if  he  remained  during  the 
life-time  of  three  lords  he  became  duly  naturalized.  If 
the  unnaturalized  tenant  withdrew  of  his  own  will  from 
the  land,  he  was  obliged  to  leave  all  his  improvements  be- 
hind ;  but  if  he  was  ejected  he  was  entitled  to  get  their 
full  value. 

Those  who  were  immediate  tenants  of  the  chief,  or  of 
the  Church,  were  debarred  this  privilege  of  tenant  right, 
and  if  unable  to  keep  their  holdings  were  obliged  to  sur- 
render them  unreservedly  to  the  Church  or  the  chief. 

All  the  tribesmen,  according  to  the  extent  of  their  pos- 
sessions, were  bound  to  maintain  the  chief's  household, 
and  to  sustain  him,  with  men  and  means,  in  his  offensive 
and  defensive  wars. 

Such  were,  in  brief,  the  land  laws  in  force  over  three- 
fourths  of  the  country  (all  outside  that  actually  held  by 
the  English)  in  the  sixteenth  century  ;  laws  which  par- 
took largely  of  the  spirit  of  an  ancient  patriarchal  justice, 
but  which,  in  ages  of  movement,  exchange  and  enterprise, 
would  have  been  found  the  reverse  of  favorable  to  indi- 
vidual freedom  and  national  strength.  There  were  not 
wanting,  we  may  be  assured,  many  minds  to  whom  this 
truth  was  apparent,  as  early  as  the  age  of  Henry  VHIth  ; 
and  it  may  not  be  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  one 
of  the  advantages  which  the  chief  found  in  exchanging 
his  patriarchal  position  for  a  feudal  Earldom  would  be 
the  greater  degree  of  independence  of  the  will  of  the 
tribe,  which  the  new  system  conferred  on  him.  With  the 


ANCIENT   LAND   LAWS   OF   IRELAND.  37 

mass  of  the  clansmen,  however,  for  the  very  same  reason 
the  change  was  certain  to  be  unpopular  if  not  odious. 

That  this  was  substantially  the  system  of  land  tenure 
in  Ireland  at  the  date  when  Henry  the  VIHth  assumed 
feudal  proprietorship  can  hardly  be  doubted.  It  was  not 
only  the  law  at  that  time,  but  the  underlying  principles 
of  that  law  had  been  in  force  and  recognized  in  Ireland 
from  the  earliest  date.  These  principles  were  that  the 
land  belonged  to  the  people  collectively,,  or  to  members 
of  the  tribes  collectively;  and  that  by  allotment,  or  other 
mode  of  decision,  each  cultivator  had  a  certain  share  of 
this  land,  which  he  held  in  severalty  as  against  all  others, 
and  over  this  he  had  a  proprietary  interest,  which  he 
could  sell,  or  hire  out,  or  which  he  might  dispose  of  by 
gift,  or  distribution  among  his  family  or  otherwise,  all  of 
which  were  of  course  subject  to  conditions  varying 
through  several  centuries  and  modified  by  the  influences 
of  time,  and  the  circumstances  of  the  country. 

Sir  Henry  Sumner  Maine,  the  eminent  English  writer, 
in  his  work  on  "  Early  History  of  Institutions,"  devotes  a 
large  part  of  his  work  to  an  examination  of  the  recently 
published  translation  of 

ANCIENT   LAWS    OP   IRELAND, 

the  collection  known  as  the  Brehon  laws.  He  has  exam- 
ined them  closely  and  critically,  and  has  no  hesitation  in 
declaring  that  they  establish  the  existence  of  a  personal 
proprietorship  of  the  lands  by  those  who  occupied  and 
cultivated  them,  and  that  this  ownership  included  the 
legal  right  of  alienation.  A  few  extracts  from  this  Eng- 
lish writer  will  confirm  the  statement  already  given  as  to 
the  law  of  land  tenure  in  Ireland  from  the  earliest  times 
down  to  the  date  when  the  laws  of  the  country  were 
swept,  like  the  land,  by  the  Anglo-Norman  conquerors, 
and  the  present  feudal  proprietorship,  together  with  the 
Anglo-Norman  feudal  lords,  were  established  in  Ireland. 
"Let  me  now  state  the  impression  which,  partly  from 
the  examination  of  the  translated  texts,  legal  and  non 
legal,  and  partly  by  the  aid  of  Dr.  Sullivan's  introduc- 
tion, I  have  formed  of  the  agrarian  organization  of  an 


00  ANCIENT   IRISH    TENANTRY. 

Irish  tribe.  It  has  been  long  settled,  in  all  probability, 
upon  the  tribal  territory.  It  is  of  sufficient  size  and  im- 
portance to  constitute  a  political  unit,  and  possibly  at  its 
apex  is  one  of  the  numerous  chieftains  whom  the  Irish 
records  call  kings.  The  primary  assumption  is  that  the 
whole  of  the  tribal  territory  belongs  to  the  whole  of  the 
tribe,  but  in  fact  large  portions  of  it  have  been  perma- 
nently appropriated  to  minor  bodies  of  tribesmen;  a  part 
is  allotted  in  a  special  way  to  the  chief  as  appurtenant  to 
his  office,  and  descends  from  chief  to  chief,  according  to  a 
special  rule  of  succession.  Other  portions  are  occupied 
by  fragments  of  the  tribe,  some  of  which  are  under  minor 
chiefs  or  'flaiths',  while  others,  though  not  strictly  ruled 
by  a  chief,  have  somebody  of  a  noble  class  to  act  as  their 
representative. 

"All  the  unappropriated  tribe-lands  are  in  a  more  espec- 
ial way  the  property -of  the  tribe  as  a  whole,  and  no  portion 
can  theoretically  be  subjected  to  more  than  a  temporary 
occupation.  Such  occupations  are,  however,  frequent, 
and  among  the  holders^  of  the  tribe-land,  on  these  terms, 
are  groups  of  men  calling  themselves  tribesmen,  but  being 
in  reality  associations  formed  by  contract,  chiefly  for  the 
purpose  of  pasturing  cattle.  Much  of  the  common 
tribe-land  is  not  occupied  at  all,  but  constitutes,  to  use 
the  English  expression,  the  '  waste  '  of  the  tribe.  Still 
this  waste  is  constantly  brought  under  tillage,  or  perma- 
nent pasture  by  settlements  of  tribesmen,  and  upon  it 
cultivators  of  servile  status  are  permitted  to  squat,  par- 
ticularly towards  the  border.  It  is  the  part  of  the 
territory  over  which  the  authority  of  the  chief  tends 
to  steadily  increase,  and  here  it  is  that  he  settles  his 
'  fuid-hir,'  or  stranger-tenants,  a  very  important  class — 
the  outlaws  and  '  broken  '  were  from  other  tribes  who 
come  to  him  for  protection,  and  who  are  only  connected 
with  their  new  tribe  by  their  dependence  on  its  chief,  and 
through  the  responsibility  which  he  incurs  for  them." 
pp.  92-93. 

ANCIENT    IRISH    TENANTRY. 

Sir  Henry  Maine,  having  thus  pictured  the  composi- 
tion of  the  Irish  tribe,  and  pointed  out  its  constituents, 


ANCIENT    IRISH   TENANTRY.  39 

draws  from  the  Brehon  laws  the  relations  of  those  tribal 
classes  holding  interior  position  towards  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  tribe.  In  the  extract  just  quoted,  he 
mentions  the  stranger-tenants;  at  page  175,  he  thus  fur- 
ther describes  them. 

"  Now  the  Fuidhir  tenant  was  exclusively  a  dependent 
of  the  chief,  and  was  through  him  alone  connected  with 
the  tribe.  The  responsibility  for  crime,  which  in  the  nat- 
ural state  of  Irish  society  attached  to  the  family  or  tribe, 
attached  in  the  case  of  the  Fuidhir,  to  the  chief,  who  in 
fact  became  to  this  class  of  tenants  that  which  their  orig- 
inal tribesmen  or  kindred  had  been.  Moreover  the  land 
which  they  cultivated  in  their  place  of  refuge  was  not 
theirs  but  his.  They  were  the  first  'tenants  at  will' 
known  in  Ireland,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  they  were 
always  theoretically  rackrentable.  The  '  three  rents,' 
says  the  Sencheesmer,  are  the  '  rackrent  from  a  person  of  a 
strange  tribe,  a  fair  rent  from  one  of  the  tribe,  and  the 
stipulated  rent  which  is  paid  equally  by  the  tribe  and 
the  strange  tribe.'  '  The  person  from  a  strange  tribe  '  is 
undoubtedly  the  Fuidhir,  and  though  the  Irish  expression 
translated  'rackrent'  cannot,  of  course,  in  the  ancient 
state  of  relation  between  population  and  land,  denote  an 
extreme  competitive  rent  ;  it  certainly  indicates  an 
extreme  rent;  since  in  one  of  the  glosses  it  is  graph- 
ically compared  to  the  milk  of  a  cow  which  is  com- 
pelled to  give  milk  every  month  to  the  end  of  the 
year;  at  the  same  time  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that, 
in  the  first  instance,  the  Fuidhir  tenants  were  oppres- 
sively treated  by  the  chiefs.  The  chief  had  a  strong  in- 
terest in  encouraging  them  ;  '  he  brings  in  Fuidhirs,'  says 
one  of  the  tracts,'  'to  increase  his  wealth.'" 

In  another  paragraph  Sir  Edward  Maine  further  de- 
fines the  status  of  the  class  of  persons  who  alone  were  the 
"tenants  at  will"  in  Ireland  under  the  Irish  law.  He 
says,  page  172-3: 

"There  is  evidence  in  the  tracts,  (Brehon)  and  es- 
pecially in  the  unpublished  (now  published)  tract  called 
the  'Corus  Fine'  that  the  servile  defendants,  like  the 
freemen  of  the  territory,  had  a  family  or  tribal  organiza- 


40  ANCIENT    IRISH    TENANTRY. 

tion;  and  indeod  all  fragments  of  a  society  like  that  of 
ancient  Ireland  take  more  or  less  the  shape  of  the  pre- 
vailing model.  The  position  of  the  classes  indicated  in 
Doomsday  and  other  ancient  English  records  as  Cotarii 
and  Bordarii  was  probabljr  very  similar  to  that  of  Sen- 
cleithes  and  Bothacks;  and  in  both  cases  it  has  been  sus- 
pected that  these  servile  orders  had  an  origin  distinct 
from  that  of  the  dominant  race,  and  belonged  to  the 
older  or  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  the  country.  Families 
or  sub-tribes  formed  out  of  them  were  probably  hewers 
of  wood  and  drawers  of  water  to  the  ruling  tribe  or  its 
subdivisions.  Others  were  certainly  in  a  condition  of 
special  servitude  to  the  chief  or  dependence  on  him;  and 
these  last  were  either  engaged  in  cultivating  his  immedi- 
ate domain-land  and  herding  his  cattle,  or  were  planted 
by  him  in  separate  settlements  on  the  waste  lands  of  the 
tribe.  The  rent  or  service  which  they  paid  to  him  for 
the  use  of  this  land  was  apparently  determinable  solely 
by  the  pleasure  of  the  chief." 

It  was  these  fugitives  or  expelled  members  of  tribes, 
who  were  taken  under  the  protection  of  the  several  chiefs, 
who  proved  a  distinct  and  servile  class,  who  were  never 
admitted  to  membership  among  the  freemen  of  the  race 
who  were  the  tenants  at  will  in  ante-Anglo-Norman 
days.  The  freemen  were  all  land  occupants,  holding  the 
land  they  cultivated  as  proprietors,  with  the  right  to  sell 
or  give  it  away.  This  was  the  land  tenure  of  Ireland 
which  was  swept  away  by  the  wholesale  confiscations  of 
all  the  land  in  Ireland  by  the  conquering  nation,  and  by 
the  establishment  in  Ireland  of  the  feudal  system,  vest- 
ing the  land  in  the  few,  and  reducing  the  many  to  the 
condition  of  tenants.  The  ancient  laws  of  Ireland  and 
the  proprietorship  of  the  land  by  the  people  perished 
with  the  election  of  Henry  VIII  as  king  of  Ireland  in 


THE    ENGLISH    OF    THE    TALE. 

Hitherto  the  English  dominions  in  that  country,  em- 
braced only  a  small  strip  on  the  eastern  coast,  called  the 
"  Pale,"  and  those  whose  proprietary  rights  were  ac- 


POLITICAL    AUTHORITY    OF   THE    POPE    REJECTED.       41 

knowleclged  by  the  English  Viceroy,  were  hated  by  the 
Irish,  to  whom  they  were  known  as  the  "  English  of  the 
Pale."  Their  title  to  possession  was  disputed;  they  were 
regarded  as  enemies,  and  in  many  a  raid  and  foray,  their 
cattle,  arms  and  household  goods  were  seized  on,  and 
carried  off  as  "  spoils  of  war."  It  would  seem,  indeed, 
as  if  the  Irish  regarded  the  English  as  intruders,  and  as 
such,  should  be  punished  in  any  way  which  presented 
itself.  Accordingly,  we  find  the  English  Viceroy  re- 
porting that  the  Pale  was  "  harried  "  by  O'Bryrne,  of 
Wicklovv,  the  O'Toole,  the  O'More  and  other  chieftains 
whose  location  gave  them  the  opportunity,  and  whose 
hatred  of  the  English  spurred  them  to  action. 

THE  REFORMATION  IN    IRELAND. 

Such  was  the  footing  of  the  English  in  Ireland  at  the 
commencement  of  Henry's  reign.  When  he  determined 
on  the  politico-religious  change  called  the  Reformation, 
he  found  as  ready  assent  to  the  change  among  the  Ariglo- 
Irish  colonists  as  among  the  most  servile  of  the  English 
clergy,  nobility  and  people.  They  conformed,  they 
wished  to  share  in  the  spoils  with  an  eagerness  peculiarly 
English.  Conscience  or  religious  conviction  they  had 
none.  The  native  princes  and  the  Norman-Irish  nobles 
in  most  instances,  and  the  people  of  Ireland  to  a  man  re- 
fused to  believe  in  the  Spiritual  Supremacy  of  Henry,  or 
to  abandon  their  faith.  Those  of  the  Irish  chieftains  who 
were  base  enough  to  conform  were  repudiated  by  their 
clansmen;  and  other  chieftains,  though  from  the  same 
f amity,  set  up  in  their  places.  Some  indeed  conformed 
only  in  seeming,  and  practiced  the  old  faith  in  their  own 
castles. 

The  Irish  to  be  sure  had  no  very  powerful  reasons  to 
be  enamored  of  the  political  authority  of  the  Pope's. 
It  had  heretofore  been  always  on  the  side  of  the  English. 
Papal  bulls,  and  rescripts,  and  letters  were  always  forth- 
coming to  be  used  by  the  English  in  repressing  the  tur- 
bulent, refractory  and  English-hating  Irish.  With  a 
discrimination  which  reflected  great  credit  on  them,  then, 
as  in  O'Connell's  time,  and  since,  the  Irish  while  admit- 


42    CHIEFS   DEPOSED    FOR   ACCEPTING   ENGLISH    TITLES. 

ting  the  supremacy  of  the  Pope  in  matters  religious, 
utterly  refused  to  accept  their  political  doctrines,  or 
abide  by  their  political  teachings.  In  fact  the  Irish  were 
always  more  Catholic  than  u-jPap$8t.n 

Though  so  much  occupied  between  his  wives,  mis- 
tresses, the  plundering  of  monasteries  and  convents,  and 
the  intrigues  of  his  Court,  Henry  found  time  to  deal  with 
Irish  affairs,  and  in  1541  through  his  agent,  Saint  Leger, 
called  a 

MEETING    OF     THE    IK1SH     PARLIAMENT. 

This  body  met  on  the  12th  of  June,  of  that  year.  Many  of 
the  Irish  princes  attended,  as  did  nearly  all  of  the  Anglo- 
Norman  lords.  O'Donnell  and  O'Neill,  the  Ulster  princes, 
refused  to  attend  at  first,  but  were  soon  induced  to  do  so 
through  the  flattery  and  favor  of  Henry.  In  the  first  ses- 
sion of  this  body  the  crown  of  Ireland  was  voted  to  Henry. 
To  reward  the  chiefs,  the  king  soon  after  conferred  on 
them  English  titles  ;  O'Donnell  became  Earl  of 
Tyrconnelt;  O'Neill,  Earl  of  Tyrone;  O'Brien,  Earl  of 
Thomond;  Me  William,  Earl  of  Clanrickarde.  The  titles 
were  bestowed  by  Henry  in  person  at  Greenwich,  whither 
the  chieftains  had  repaired. 

THE  CLANS  WOULD  HAVE  NO  ENGLISH  EARLS  FOR  CHIEFS. 

But  during  their  absence  the  clansmen,  from  whom 
they  derived  their  representative  characters,  were  not 
idle.  No  sooner  had  they  discovered  the  treachery 
of  the  chiefs  in  bestowing  the  crown  of  Ireland  on  Henry 
and  in  repudiating  Irish  titles,  than  they  began  to  take 
the  most  effective  means  of  punishing  them  by  deposing 
them  and  electing  successors,  and  thus  we  find  mentioned 
in  the  history  'of  this  and  succeeding  periods,  an 
Irish  O  'Brien,  and  a  King's  or  Queen's  O'Brien;  an  Irish 
O'Neill  and  a  King's  or  Queen's  O'Neill.  Those  who 
were  not  faithful  to  the-  clansmen  were  denounced  as 
persons  "  who  sold  their  country,  clan  and  church  for 
gold."  The  deposed  chief  tried  in  many  instanc.es  to 
assert  his  claims,  and  was  backed  up  by  some  of  his 
personal  adherents,  and  thus  was  added  another  element 
of  strife.  No  doubt  this  was  very  pleasing  to  the 


SHANE  O'NEILL  KIDS  ULSTER  OF  THE  ENGLISH.     43 

English.  Their  policy  thereafter  was  one  of  "  divide  and 
conquer;"  one  too,  which  was  much  more  successful  than 
any  which  they  had  yet  adopted.  In  some  instances  the 
Irish  chiefs  recanted,  and  were  restored  to  their  former 
authority;  but  alas!  the  poison  of  dissension  only  worked 
too  well. 

The  accession  of  Mary  to  the  throne  little  affected  the 
policy  of  England  towards  Ireland.  Mary,  no  doubt, 
evinced  much  sympathy  for  Irishmen  who  were  impris- 
oned during  the  reign  of  her  father  and  brother,  because 
of  adhering  to  the  ancient  faith;  but  the  Saxon  hate  of 
Celtic  independence  was  as  strong  in  Mary  as  it  is  in  the 
English  Catholics  of  the  present  day,  and  she  was  as  de- 
termined in  pushing  the  conquest  of  Ireland  as  was 
Henry  VIII. 

Elizabeth  was  still  more  vigorous  and  far  more  unscru- 
pulous in  carrying  out  the  same  policy.  But  the 
Irish  chiefs  were  more  determined  to  resist.  Shane 
O'Neill  (John  the  Proud)  was  up  in  Ulster.  His 
father  had  taken  an  English  title;  the  clansmen  thereon 
elected  John,  who  had  no  sooner  taken  on  himself  the 
leadership  than  he  set  about  ridding  Ulster  of  the  En- 
glish, and  in  this  he  was  completely  successful.  He  de- 
feated all  the  armies  that  Elizabeth  could  send  against 
him,  and  soon  there  was  not  a  vestige  of  Englisn  rule 
in  his  province.  He  even  ravaged  and  "  harried  "  the 
Pale,  defeating  the  English  .Commander-in-Chief,  who 
was  sent  against  him.  Sussex,  the  Lord-Lieutenant, 
with  t<he  approval  of  Elizabeth,  tried  to  procure  his  death 
by  assassination,  but  failed.  Unfortunately,  Shane  quar- 
relled with  the  O'Donnells,  and  was  by  them  defeated  in 
a  pitched  battle.  Fleeing  from  the  field,  he  fell  into  the 
hands  of  some  Scotchmen,  by  whom  he  was  treacherously 
murdered.  The  O'Neill's  country  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  English.  Young  Hugh  O'Neill  was  taken  to  Lon- 
don, that  he  might  be  educated  in  English  ways,  and 
arts,  and  diplomacy.  It  was  thought,  no  doubt,  that  he 
would  become  a  thorough  West- Briton ;  and  would  in 
turn  educate'  his  clansmen  to  learn  and  love  the  English 
ways,  and  the  English  religion.  Young  Hugh  seems 


4-i  THE   NORTHERN   CONFEDERACY. 

to  have  acted  his  part  very  well;  was  a  great  favorite 
at  the  English  court;  fought  in  the  Queen's  army,  even 
against  the  Irish  chiefs;  and  generally  approved  himself  a 
most  loyal  young  man,  in  whom  her  Majesty  had  the  fullest 
confidence.  On  his  return  to  Ireland,  he  seems  to  have 
behaved  as  an  ordinary  English  nobleman,  and  his  loyalty 
was  not  questioned.  The  courtiers  of  Dublin,  however, 
soon  began  to  suspect  his  loyalty.  It  was  reported  that 
he  busied  himself  in  healing  up  the  feuds  between  the 
Ulster  chiefs;  that  he  treated  the  Spaniards  who  escaped 
from  the  wreck  of  the  Armada,  with  distinguished  con- 
sideration; he  was  even  charged  with  entertaining 
"popish"  priests  and  assisting  at  popish  services:  add  to 
this  the  fact  that  he  was  carefully  drilling  his  men.  Hear 
John  Mitchel,  with  what  savage  satisfaction  he  tells  of 
these  proceedings:  "  It  is  much  feared  that  he  changes 
the  men  so  soon  as  they  thoroughly  learn  the  use  of  arms, 
replacing  them  by  others,  all  his  own  clansmen,  whom 
he  diligently  drills  and  reviews  for  some  unknown  ser- 
vice. And  the  lead  he  imports;  lead  enough  to  sheet 
Glenshane,  or  clothe  the  sides  of  Caernocher.  And,  in- 
deed, rumor  does  reach  the  deputy  in  Dublin  that  there 
goes  on  at  Dangannon,  an  incredible  casting  of  bullets. 

THE   RISING   IN"   THE    NORTH. 

"  If  the  two  potent  chiefs  of  the  north  should  forget 
their  ancient  feud  and  unite  for  the  cause  of  Ireland, 
then,  indeed,  not  only  this  settlement  of  the  Ulster 
'  counties'  must  be  adjourned — one  knows  not  how  long — 
but  the  Pale  itself  or  the  Castle  of  Dublin  might  hardly 
protect  Her  Majesty's  officers."  The  two  'potent 
princes'  of  Ulster  did  finally  unite,  although  Elizabeth's 
deputy  tried  hard  to  prevent  the  union.  Young  Hugh 
Roe  O'Donnell  was  abducted  and  confined  in  Dublin 
castle,  but  managed  to  escape,  though  not  till  a  first  at- 
tempt had  failed.  On  his  way  homeward  to  Donegal  he 
was  treated  with  the  greatest  hospitality  by  O'Neill,  and 
at  Dungannon,  doubtless,  were  the  plans  formed  which 
gave  so  much  trouble  to  Elizabeth.  O'Neill  was  very 
cool  and  diplomatic,  but  young  O'Donnell  was  impetu- 


O'NEILL  TJNFUKLS  HIS  KOYAL  STANDARD.          45 

ous  and  impatient.  Some  English  troops  were  stationed 
in  a  Donegal  monastery;  this  was  more  than  O'Donnell 
flesh  and  blood  could  bear;  they  were  driven  out  by  Red 
Hugh.  Some  regiments  of  Saxon  soldiery  occupied  the 
garrisons  of  Sligo  and  Mayo;  O'Donnell  swooped  down 
on  them  and  soon  five  counties  in  Ulster  and  Connaught 
were  relieved  of  the  presence  of  the  hateful  Sassenach. 
This  impetuosity  on  the  part  of  the  chief  of  Tyrconnell 
precipited  matters.  O'Neill  had  to  declare  himself  before 
he  was  quite  ready.  He  expected  "wine"  from  the 
royal  "  Pope,"  and  "  /Spanish  ale"  that  would  give  him 
hope — '' health  and  strength  and  hope,"  as  Mangan  has 
it;  but  "  it  was  clear  that,  let  King  Philip  send  his  prom- 
ised aid,  or  send  it  not,  open  and  vigorous  resistance  must 
be  made  to  the  further  progress  of  a  foreign  power." 
O'Neill  was  summoned  to  Dublin  to  answer  to  charges 
against  his  loyalty.  Nothing  daunted  he  appeared,  but 
on  being  informed  of  a  plot  to  seize  him  he  beat  a  hasty 
retreat.  The  time  for  action  had  arrived  at  last.  All 
pretense  of  loyalty  was  thrown  off;  a  powerful  confed- 
eracy had  been  formed  among  the  northern  chiefs.  "Dun- 
gannon,"  says  Mitchell/  "  with  stern  joy  beheld  un- 
furled the  royal  standard  of  O'Neill,  displaying,  as  it 
floated  proudly  on  the  breeze  that  terrible  Ited  Hight 
Hand  upon  its  snowy  white  folds,  waving  defiance  to  the 
Saxon  queen."  O'Neill  "stormed  Portmore  and  drove 
away  its  garrison,"  razed  its  fortifications,  then  advanced 
into  O'Reilly's  country  (Cavan)  driving  the  Saxon  garri- 
sons before  him,  united  with  Maguire  and  MacMahon 
and  laid  siege  to  Monaghan. 

Meanwhile  O'Donnell  had  made  a  raid  into  Connaught, 
shutting  up  the  English  Garrison  within  the  walled  towns, 
ravaged  the  lands  of  the  Saxon  settlers,  and  sending  the 
spoils  to  Tyrconnell.  O'Farrel  who  was  a  loyal  subject 
occupying  what  is  now  the  county  Longford,  was  next 
attacked,  and  treated  to  a  little  of  O'Donnell's  vengeance. 
The  English  were  wholly  unprepared  for  this  kind  of 
work,  and  not  being  so  well  prepared  as  they  would  wish, 
began  to  treat  with  the  Ulster  princes.  O'Neill  saw 
through  the  device.  It  was  to  gain  time,  and  demanded 


46  BATTLE    OF    CLONTIBEET. 

concessions  which  he  knew  full  well  could  not  be  granted' 
One  of  the  claims  must  have  struck  Bagenal,  the  English 
general,  as  a  piece  of  most  consummate  impudence. 
Bagenal's  sister  nad.  eloped  with  O'Neill,  and  now  that 
doughty  chieftain  demanded  as  one  of  the  conditions  of 
peace,  a  thousand  pounds  of  silver  "  as  a  marriage  por- 
tion with  the  lady  whom  he  had  raised  to  the  dignity  of 
an  O'N'eUVs  bride"  The  English  would  grant  much  on 
condition  that  the  Northern  princes  should  repent  them 
of  their  rebellion.  "The  rebels"  says  M ory son,  "  grew 
insolent."  They  had  no  idea  of  begging  pardon  for  doing 
what  they  conceived  was  a  patriotic  and  pious  duty. 

Early  in  June,  1595,  Bagenal  and  Norreys,  at  the  head 
of  the  English  army,  marched  from  Dundalk  to  relieve 
Monaghan,  which  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Eng- 
lish, and  which  was  now  being  besieged  by  O'Neill. 
The  two  armies  met  at  Clontibret,  and  after  a  most  de- 
termined and  obstinate  battle,  "  the  banner  of  St.  George 
went  down  before  the  furious  charge  "  of  O'Neill.  "  The 
English,"  says  Mitchell,  "  fled  headlong  over  the  stream, 
leaving  the  field  covered  with  their  dead."  .  .  "  Nor- 
reys hastily  retreated  southwards,  and  Monaghan  was 
yielded  to  the  Irish."  Segrave,  the  bravest  of  the  English 
officers,  was  slain  in  single  combat  with  O'Neill,  and  a 
large  amount  of  fire-arms  and  munitions  of  war  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  Irish.  At  the  close  of  1595  O'Neill's 
Confederacy  ruled  supreme  over  Connaught  and  Ulster. 
During  the  next  two  years  the  English  were  still  further 
pressed,  a  portion  of  the  Pale  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Irish;  Essex  was  stripped  of  his  plumes  at  Tyrell's  Pass. 
— called  for  that  reason  the  "  Pass  of  Plumes," — and  was 
recalled  to  England  in  disgrace.  In  1598  the  English 
fitted  out  a  formidable  army  to  beard  the  lion  of  Ulster 
in  his  den,  and  marched  to  the  relief  of  Armagh.  The 
command  of  this  fine  army  was  entrusted  to  Bagenal,  the 
mortal  enemy  of  O'Neill. 

"  His  veteran  troops  in  the  foreign  wars  tried, 
Their  ieatures  how  bronzed,  and  how  haughty  their  prid^ 
Stepped  steadily  on." 

O'Neill    having   called   O'Donnell   and    the  principal 


BATTLE    OF    BEAL-AN-ATIIA-BTJIE.  47 

northern  chiefs  to  his  aid,  advanced  to  meet  them  al 
Heal-an-atha-buie,  now  called  the  Blackwater,  "  the 
glory  of  Ulster,"  Thomas  Davis  called  it.  Mitchel  de- 
scribes the  battle  thus:  "  Bagenal,  at  the  head  of  his  first 
division,  aided  by  a  body  of  cavalry,  charged  the  Irish 
light  armed  troops  up  to  the  very  entrenchments,  in  front 
of  which  O'Neill's  foresight  had  prepared  some  pits,  cov- 
ered over  with  wattles  and  grass,  and  many  of  the  Eng- 
lish cavalry,  rushing  impetuously  forward,  rolled  head- 
long, both  men  and  horses,  into  these  trenches  and  per- 
ished. Still  the  Marshal's  chosen  troops,  with  loud 
cheers  and  shouts  of  l  St.  George  for  Merry  England' 
resolutely  attacked  the  entrenchments,  battered  them 
with  cannon,  and  in  one  place  succeeded,  though  with 
heavy  loss,  in  forcing  back  their  defenders.  Then  the  first 
main  body  of  O'Neill's  troops  was  brought  into  action,  and 
with  bagpipes  sounding  a  charge,  they  fell  on  the  Eng- 
lish, shouting  their  fierce  battle-cries,  T^amh-dearg^  and 
O'Donnell,  Aboo!  O'Neill,  himself  at  the  head  of  a  body 
of  horse,  pricked  forward  to  seek  out  Bagenal,  but  they 
never  met;  the  Marshal  was  shot  through  the  brain  by 
some  unknown  marksman;"  "his  blood  manured  the 
reeking  sod."  The  division  he  led  was  utterly  routed, 
and  with  it  the  entire  army. 

.    "  Land  of  Owen  Aboo!  and  the  Irish  rushed  on, 

The  foe  fired  but  one  volley — their  gunners  are  gone. 
Before  the  bare  bosoms  the  steel-coats  have  fled. 
Or,  despite  casque  or  corslet,  lie  dying  or  dead." 

Thirty-four  standards,  all  the  English  artillery,  and 
twelve  thousand  pieces  of  gold  were  taken  by  O'Neill's 
army.  Nearly  three  thousand  English  soldiers  were  left 
dead  on  the  field,  and  the  pride  of  England  was  humbled. 
Moryson,  the  English  chronicler,  says  the  "general  voyce 
was  of  Tyrone  after  the  defeat  of  Blackwater,  as  of  Han- 
iiibal  among  the  Romans  after  the  defeat  of  Cannae."  It 
is  needless  to  say  what  the  opinion  of  Ireland  was. 

"Glory  fadeth,  but  this  triumph  was  no  barren  mundane  glory; 

Eays  of  healing  it  shall  scatter  on  the  eyes  that  read  our  story. 
***  *  *  *  *  *         J  * 

Whenso'er  Erin  triumphs,  its  dawn  it  shall  renew, 
Then  O'Neill  shall  be  remembered  and  O'Donnell's  chief  Red 
.Hugh." 


4:8  MUNSTER   JOINS   THE   CONFEDERACY. 

The  thrill  of  victory  wakened  the  Munster  chiefs  to 
their  duty.  This  province  was  ruled  by  Anglo-Norman 
lords  or  Irish  chiefs,  who  were  powerless  or  unwilling  to 
protest  against  English  dominion.  O  'Neill  despatched 
Richard  Tyrell  and  Owen  O'Moore  to  rouse  the  southern 
chiefs.  They  were  received  with  glad  welcome.  The 
English  adventurers,  who  occupied  the  lands  of  the 
province  after  the  collapse  of  the  Geraldine  confederacy 
fled  for  their  lives,  the  principal  fortresses,  except  Cork 
and  Killmallock,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Irish,  and  Mun- 
ster was  soon  as  free  as  Ulster  and  Connaught.  "  No 
English  force  was  able  to  keep  the  field  through- 
out all  Ireland."  In  1599  O  'Niell  was  recognized  as 
chief  ruler,  and  all  his  commands  loyally  obeyed. 
But  Elizabeth  was  not  the  monarch  to  quit  her  deadly 
grip  upon  Ireland.  England  now  put  forth  all  her  fall 
strength  to  crush  the  Irish  nation.  Essex  was  dis- 
patched with  an  army  of  twenty  thousand  men  to  put 
down  the  "  rebellion,"  but  never  came  to  battle  in  the 
open  field  with  O'Neill.  His  army  was  decimated  in  guer- 
illa warfare,  and  he  was  recalled  and  disgraced.  Mount- 
joy  was  now  appointed  deputy,  and  Carew  lord  president 
of  Munster,  and  instead  of  meeting  O'Neill  with  the 
weapon  of  the  soldier,  "  they  tried  snares,  deceit,  treach- 
ery, gold,  flattery,  promises,  temptation,  and  seduction  in 
every  shape."  God  pity  Ireland;  she  has  nursed  of  all 
her  foes — the  fiercest,  worst.  The  methods  of  Mountjoy 
and  Carew  succeeded.  O'Connor  in  the  South,  arid  Art 
O  Neill  and  Niall  Garv  O'Donnell  in  the  north,  defected 
to  the  English.  Dissensions  arose  in  all  portions.  A 
Queen's  McCarthy  was  set  up  against  the  Irish  McCarthy 
in  Muskerry;  the  O'Sullivan  Beare  had  to  contend  against 
O'Sullivan  Moore,  in  Kerry. 

The  Spanish  expedition  sent  out  under  the  command 
of  the  vain,  pompous  and  cowardly  Don  Juan  D'Aquilla, 
instead  of  landing  in  Ulster  where  it  could  meet  little 
resistance,  and  where  it  would  be  most  useful,  landed  at 
Kinsale  in  the  south,  where  the  only  chiefs  who  remained 
faithful  to  the  Irish  cause  were  O'Sullivan  Beare,  O'Con- 
nor Kerry  and  O'Driscoll.  D'Aquilla  in  a  letter  to  O'Neill 


DISASTROUS    BATTLE   AT   KINSALE.  49 

threatened   to   treat  with  Carew  imless   further   aid  was 
given  to  his  expedition. 

The  Ulster  Chief,  much  against  his  will,  marched  south 
with  O'Donnell,  and  uniting  with  O'Sullivan  and  O'Dris- 
coll,  laid  siege  to  Kinsale,  which  he  proposed  to  reduce 
by  starvation.  D'Aquilla  became  impatient,  and  de- 
manded an  assault  on  the  English  lines.  O'Neill  had  to 
yield  much  against  his  will,  and  the  Irish  forces  were  de- 
feated at  the  disastrous  battle  of  Kinsale.  The  power 
of  the  confederacy  was  broken  in  the  South.  O'Sullivan, 
for  a  while  defended  his  Castle  at  Dunboy,  but  finally 
retreated  under  the  face  of  the  most  discouraging  obstacles 
northward;  his  castle  was  blown  up  by  the  warder, 
Geoghegan,  rather  than  it  should  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
English,  "  and  the  halls  where  mirth  and  minstrelsy  than 
Beara's  winds  were  louder "  was  reduced  to  a  ruin. 
Fraud  had  done  its  work  where  force  had  failed.  O'Neill 
and  O'Donnell  continued  to  fight  bravely  against  all 
odds.  The  Tudors,  wile  succeeded,  as  the  Stuarts  and 
the  Brunswickers  have  since.  The  Queen's  O'Riellys, 
O'Neills,  O'Sullivans  and  O'Donnells,  have  had  their  imi- 
tators in  our  own  days  in  the  Keoghs,  Monsells  and 
Sadliers,  of  the  "  Pope's  Brass  band,"  the  Corydons,  the 
Masseys  and  the  Nagles  of  Fenian  times;  and  the  Deases, 
Dygbys,  Morrises,  Murphys  and  McCarthys,  of  the  Home 
Rule  movement.  The  submission  of  the  chiefs  and  sub- 
sequent events,  are  told  on  another  page. 

ENGLISH    DOMINION    CONFINED   TO   THE    PALE    FOB    FOUK 
HUNDRED    YEARS. 

Notwithstanding  the  pretended  conquest  of  Ireland  by 
the  Anglo-Normans  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II,  the  fact  is 
indisputable  that  the  English  dominion  was  virtually  con- 
fined to  the  limits  of  "  The  Pale  "  for  four  hundred  years 
thereafter.  This  district  comprised  the  counties  of  Dub- 
lin, Kildare,  Meath  and  Uriel,  with  the  cities  of  Water- 
ford,  Cork  and  Limerick,  and  the  lands  immediately 
surrounding  them.  Over  the  other  parts  of  the  island, 
which  were  without  the  Pale,  neither  Henry  nor  any 
of  his  successors,  until  the  reign  of  James  I,  after  the 


50  SUBMISSION   OF   THE   NORTHERN   CHIEFS. 

submission  of  the  northern  chieftains,  as  previously  re- 
lated, either  had  or  even  claimed  to  have  any  sovereignty 
beyond  the  formal  homage  of  some  of  the  native  chief- 
tains, an  empty  title  and  an  inconsiderable,  irregularly 
paid  tribute.  Henry  made  the  most  lavish  promises  of 
protection,  and  even  aggrandizement  to  those  chieftains 
who  had  basely  betrayed  their  country  by  joining  Mc- 
Murrough  in  inviting  the  "proud  invader"  into  Ireland. 
"  In  lieu,"  says  Plowden,  "  of  his  promises  of  future 
power  to  the  chieftains,  he  dispossessed  them  of  their 
honors  and  territories,  and  granted  them  with  the 
arbitrary  prodigality  of  a  conquering  despot  to  his  Nor- 
inan  adventurers,  whom  he  raised  at  the  same  time  to  the 
rank  of  feudatory  princes." 

POLICY     OF      THE       ENGLISH     GOVERNMENT    FOUNDED     IN 
HATRED  TO  THE    IRISH. 

It  has  ever  been  the  policy  of  the  English  Government, 
instead  of  endeavoring  to  win  the  fealty  and  affection  of 
the  Irish  by  equal  and  just  laws,  to  foment  divisions  and 
perpetual  dissensions,  animosity  and  hatred  between  the 
two  peoples. 

This  is  as  true  during  the  four  hundred  years  that 
England  remained  Catholic  as  it  continued  to  be  after  the 
Reformation,  when  religious  persecution  gave  added 
venom  to  national  hatred.  "Hence  it  is,"  says  Sir  John 
Davies,  "  that  in  all  the  parliament  rolls  which  are  extant 
from  the  40th  year  of  Edward  III,  when  the  statutes  of 
Kilkenny  were  enacted,  to  the  reign  of  King  Henry  VIII; 
we  find  the  degenerate  ar>d  disobedient  English  called  reb- 
els; but  the  Irish  who  were  not  in  the  king's  peace,  are 
called  enemies.  All  the  statutes  passed  by  the  parliament 
of  the  Pale,  speak  of  English  rebels  and  Irish  enemies, 
as  if  the  Irish  had  never  been  in  the  condition  of  sub- 
jects, but  always  out  of  the  protection  of  the  laws,  and 
were  indeed  in  a  worse  case  than  aliens  of  any  foreign 
realm  that  was  in  enmity  with  the  crown  of  England. 
For  by  divers  heavy  penal  laws  the  English  were  forbid- 
den to  marry,  to  foster,  to  make  gossipes  with  the  Irish  ; 
or  to  have  any  trade  or  commerce  in  their  markets  and 


TESTIMONY   OF   THE    CRUEL   POLICY   OF   ENGLAND.       51 

fairs.  Nay,  there  was  a  law  made  no  longer  since  than 
the  28th  of  Henry  VIII,  that  the  English  should  not 
marry  with  any  person  of  Irish  blood,  though  he  had 
gotten  a  charter  of  denization,  unless  he  had  done  both 
homage  and  fealty  to  the  King  in  the  Chancery,  and  were 
also  bounden  by  recognizance  in  sureties  to  continue  a 
loyal  subject.  Whereby  it  is  manifest  that  such  as  had 
the  government  of  Ireland  under  the  crown  of  England 
did  intend  to  make  a  perpetual  separation  of  enmity  be- 
tween the  English  and  the  Irish." 

The  reflections  of  Sir  John  Davies,  himself  an  En- 
glishman, a  trusted  servant  of  the  crown,  and  a  lawyer 
well  versed  in  the  laws  and  constitution  of  England,  may 
well  be  considered  of  more  weight  in  depicting  the  venal 
and  cruel  policy  of  the  English  government  in  Ireland 
than  the  testimony  of  any  modern  writer.  "  This,  then, 
I  note,"  continues  Sir  John  Davies,  "  as  a  great  defect 
in  the  civil  policy  of  this  kingdom,  in  that,  for  the  space 
of  350  years,  at  least,  after  the  conquest  first  attempted, 
the  English  lawes  were  not  communicated  to  the  Irish, 
nor  the  benefit  and  protection  thereof  allowed  unto  them. 
For  as  long  as  they  were  out  of  the  protection  of  the  law, 
so  as  every  Englishman  might  oppresse,  spoyle  and  kill 
them  without  controulment,  how  was  it  possible  they 
should  bee  other  than  outlawes  and  enemies  to  the 
Crowne  of  England?  If  the  King  would  not  admit  them 
to  the  condition  of  subjects,  how  could  they  learn  to  ac- 
knowledge and  obey  him  as  their  Sovereign?  When  they 
might  not  converse  or  commerce  with  any  civill  men,  nor 
enter  into  anie  towne  or  citty  without  perill  of  their  lives, 
whither  should  they  flie  but  into  the  woods  and  moun- 
tains, and  there  live  in  a  wild  and  barbarous  manner? 
If  the  English  magistrates  would  not  rule  them  by  the 
lawe,  which  doth  punish  treason  and  murder  and  theft  by 
death,  but  leave  them  to  be  ruled  by  their  own  lords  and 
lawes,  why  should  they  not  embrace  .their  own  Brehon 
law,  which  punisheth  no  offence  but  with  a  fine  or  erich? 
If  the  Irish  bee  not  permitted  to  purchase  estates  of  free- 
hold or  inheritance,  which  might  descend  to  their  chil- 
dren according  to  the  course  of  our  common  lawe,  must 


52  NOTHING   WAS   GRANTED   TO   TIIE   NATIVES. 

they  not  continue  their  old  custom  of  tanistries,  which 
makes  all  their  possessions  uncertaine  and  brings  con- 
fusion, barbarism  and  incivillitie?  In  a  word,  if  the  En- 
glish woulde  neither  in  peace  govern  them  by  lawe,  nor 
could  in  warre  roote  them  out  by  the  sworde,  must  they 
not  needes  bee  prickes  in  their  eyes,  and  thornes  in  their 
hides  till  the  worlde's  end." 

Though  the  English  had  possession  of  only  one-third 
of  the  island,  they  cantonized  the  whole  country  amongst 
ten  English  families,  and  called  themselves  owners  and 
lords  of  the  soil  of  the  whole  country.  Nothing  was 
left  to  be  granted  or  enjoyed  by  the  natives;  nor  can 
there  be  found  for  the  space  of  350  years  after  Henry's 
invasion  a  single  record  of  a  grant  of  any  land  to  an 
Irishman  of  any  degree,  except  a  grant  from  the  Crown 
to  the  King  of  Thomond  of  his  own  land,  during  the 
minority  of  Henry  III,  and  the  grant  or  treaty  with  Ro- 
derick O'Connor,  the  King  of  Connaught,  by  Henry  II. 

THESE    ENGLISH    GRANTEES    BECAME    A    NEW    SET    OP 
PETTY     SOVEREIGNS, 

to  the  irreparable  damage  of  the  country,  and  Sir  John 
Davies  assures  us  that  our  great  English  lords  could  not 
endure  that  any  Kings  should  reign  in  Ireland  but  them- 
selves ;  nay,  they  could  hardly  endure  that  the  Crown 
of  England  itself  should  exercise  any  jurisdiction  over 
them.  They  exercised  more  arbitrary  jurisdiction  and 
authority  in  their  territories  than  any  English  monarch 
did  over  the  Kingdom.  No  wonder,  then,  that  this  new 
race  of  English  Kings  in  Ireland  should,  as  Sir  John 
Davies  further  observes,  oppose  and  resist  every  attempt 
of  the  English  government  to  admit  the  Irish  into  a  full 
participation  of  the  laws  and  constitution.  For  by  these 
grants  and  confiscations  of  whole  provinces  and  several 
kingdoms,  these  few  Anglo-Norman  lords  assumed  to  be 
the  proprietors  of  all  the  lands,  so  that  there  was  no 
possibility  of  settling  the  natives  in  any  of  their  posses- 
sions, and  consequently  the  conquest  of  the  whole 
country  became  an  utter  impossibility,  otherwise  than  by 
the  complete  extirpation  of  the  whole  native  race,  which 


THE  OPPRESSION  OF  THE  LAND  KOBBERS.      53 

they  were  in  fact  unable,  and  probably  unwilling,  to  ac- 
complish. The  Irish  who  inhabited  the  lands  that  were  sub- 
dued to  the  foreign  yoke,  were  in  the  condition  of  slaves 
and  villeins,  and  thereby  were  rendered  more  valuable  to 
their  conquerors  than  if  they  had  been  allowed  to  become 
free  subjects  to  the  Crown  of  England  ;  and  as  these 
oppressive  and  rapacious  land-robbers  flattered  them- 
selves with  the  pleasing  prospect  of  realizing  their  sev- 
eral grants  to  their  full  nominal  extent,  they  eagerly 
sought  to  extend  their  system  of  vassalage  and  slavery, 
which  could  not  be  accomplished  if  the  Irish  outside  the 
Pale  were  permitted  to  receive  the  King's  protection  and 
become  liege  men  and  free  subjects.  ^Thus,  early  in 
the  history  of  English  government  in  Ireland,  were  the 
peace,  welfare  and  prosperity  of  the  Irish  people  sacri- 
ficed to  the  inordinate  greed  and  corrupt  selfishness  of 
some  few  men  in  power. 

The  same  author,  "than  whom,"  says  Plowden,  "no  man 
ever  more  studied  the  reciprocal  interests  of  England  and 
Ireland,  tells  us  plainly,  that  this  handful  of  monopolizers  of 
the  whole  power  and  profit  of  the  nation  opposed  its  union 
with  England,  because  that  would  have  abridged  and  cut 
off  a  great  part  of  that  greatness  which  they  had  prom- 
ised unto  themselves;  they  persuaded  the  King  of  Eng- 
land, that  it  was  unfit  to  communicate  the  lawes  of  Eng- 
land wi.h  them;  that  it  was  the  best  policie  to  hold  them 
as  aliens  and  enemies,  and  to  prosecute  them  with  a  con- 
tinual warre.  Hereby  they  obtained  another  royal  pre- 
rogative and  power,  which  was  to  make  warre  and  peace 
at  their  pleasure  in  every  part  of  the  Kingdome;  which 
gave  them  an  absolute  command  over  the  bodies,  lands 
and  goods  of  the  English  subjects  heere.  The  truth  is, 
that  those  great  English  lords  did,  to  the  uttermost  of 
their  power,  crosse  and  withstand  the  enfranchisement 
of  the  Irish,  for  the  causes  before  expressed,  wherein  I 
must  still  cleare  and  acquit  the  crown  and  state  of  Eng- 
land of  negligence  or  ill  policy." 

Not  only  the  general  state  policy  of  England  was  mis- 
directed and  abused  by  the  servants  of  the  crown  in  Ire- 
land, in  order  to  increase  and  perpetuate  disunion  and 


54:          THE    IKISH   NOT   SUBJECTS,    BUT    "  ENEMIES." 

hatred  between  the  two  nations,  but  the  very  sources  of 
justice  and  legislation  were  poisoned  and  corrupted  to 
the  same  intent.  We  have  the  testimony  of  records  of  un- 
doubted authority:  "That  the  Irish  generally  were  held 
and  reputed  aliens,  or  rather  enemies,  to  the  crown  of 
England,  inasmuch  as  that  they  were  not  only  disabled  to 
bring  anie  actions,  but  they  were  so  far  out  of  the  protec- 
tion of  the  lawe  as  it  was  often 

ADJUDGED  NO  FELONY  TO  KILL  A  MERE  IRISHMAN 

in  the  time  of  peace.  By  the  4th  Chap,  of  the  Statutes, 
made  at  Trim,  25th  Henry  VI  (A.  D.  1447),  it  was  en- 
acted, that  if  any  were  found  with  their  upper  lips 
unshaven  for  the  space  of  a  fortnight,  (it  was  the  Irish 
fashion  to  wear  the  beard  on  the  upper  lip)  it  should  be 
lawful  for  any  man  to  take  them  and  their  goods  as  Irish 
enemies  and  ransom  them.  Another  very  singular  stat- 
ute was  passed,  to  commit  the  punishment  of  offenders  to 
every  private  liegeman  of  the  King,  without  any  reference 
to  trial  by  judge  or  jury,  (2Sta  Henry  VI,  c.  11,  A. 
D.  1450.)  Rewards  were  put  upon  the  heads  of  the  Irish, 
at  the  mere  private  surmise,  suspicion,  or  personal  resent- 
ment of  any  Englishman,  for  it  was  enacted  that  it  shall 
be  lawful  for  every  liegeman  of  the  King — all  manner  of 
notorious  and  known  thieves,  and  thieves  found  robbing, 
etc.,  to  kill  and  take  them  without  impeachment,  arraing- 
ment  or  grievance  to  him — to  be  done  by  our  lord  the 
King,  his  justices,  officers  or  any  of  his  ministers,  for  any 
such  manslaughter  or  taking;  and  that  every  man  shall 
be  rewarded  for  such  killing  or  taking  by  one  penny  of 
every  plough,  and  one  farthing  of  every  cottage,  within 
the  barony  where  the  manslaughter  was  done.  This  in- 
human encouragement  to  murder  was  further  increased 
by  larger  rewards  given  to  those  who  should  execute 
summary  justice  by  their  own  fallible  or  corrupt  judg- 
ments upon  persons  going  to  rob  and  steal,  or  coming 
from  robbing  and  stealing  ;  for  (by  50th  Edwd.  IV,  c.  21 
A.  D.  1465)  it  was  enacted,  that  it  should  be  lawful  to  all 
manner  of  men  that  found  any  thieves  robbing  by  day  or 
by  night,  or  going  or  coming  to  rob  or  steal^  in  or  out, 


EEWAKD    FOK   CUTTING   OFF    HEADS.  Oi> 

going  or  coming,  having  no  faithful  man  of  good  name  in 
their  company  in  English  apparel,  upon  any  of  the  liege 
people  of  the  King,  to  take  and  kill  those  and  cut  off 
their  heads  without  any  impeachment  of  our  sovereign 
lord  the  King,  his  heirs,  officers  or  ministers,  or  of  any 
others;  and  of  any  heads  so  cut  off  in  the  county  of 
Meath,  that  the  cutter  of  the  said  head,  and  his  ayders 
there  to  him,  cause  the  said  head  so  cut  off  in  the  county 
of  Meath,  to  be  brought  to  the  portreeve  of  the  town  of 
Trim,  and  the  portreeve  to  put  it  upon  a  stake  or  spear 
upon  the  castle  of  Trim,  and  that  the  said  portreeve,  of 
Trim,  should  give  him  his  writing  under  the  seal  of  the 
said  town,  testifying  the  bringing  of  the  said  head  to 
him.  And  that  it  should  be  lawful  for  the  bringer  of 
the  said  head  and  his  ayders  to  the  same,  to  distrein  and 
levy  with  their  own  hands  of  every  man  having  one 
plough  land  in  the  barony  where  the  thief  was  so  taken, 
two-pence;  half  a  plough  land,  one  penny;  and  every 
man  having  a  house  and  goods  to  the  value  of  forty 
shillings,  one  penny;  and  of  every  other  cottier  having 
house  and  smoak,  one  halfpenny.  And  if  the  portreeve 
should  refuse  such  certificate,  he  was  to  forfeit  £10 
recoverable  by  action. 

Although  the  printed  Statutes  of  Ireland  go  not  to  so 
early  a  date,  yet  Sir  John  Davies  quotes 

THE  FAMOUS  STATUTES  OF  KILKENNY, 

which  are  preserved  in  the  Castle  at  Dublin;  they  were 
passed  in  the  40th  year  of  King  Edwd.  Ill  (A.  D.  136G), 
and  although  "  they  were  chiefly  intended,"  says  Plow- 
den,  "  to  correct  the  degeneracy  of  the  English,  yet  had 
they  the  strongest  tendency  to  aggravate  the  rancorous 
animosity  of  the  two  nations."  "  In  the  40th  year  of  his 
reign,"  says  Davies,  "  King  Edward  held  that  famous 
Parliament  at  Kilkenny,  wherein  many  notable  lawes 
were  enacted,  which  doo  showe  and  lay  open  how  much 
the  English  colonies  were  corrupted  at  that  time,  and  doo 
infallibly  prove  that  which  is  laide  downe  befoer  that 
they  were  wholly  degenerate  and  fain  away  from  their 
obedience.  For,  first  it  appeareth  by  the  preamble  of 


56  THE   OPPRESSIONS   OF   COIN   AND   LIVERY. 

those  lawes,  that  the  English  of  this  realm,  before  the 
coming  of  Lionel,  Duke  of  Clarence,  were  at  that  time 
become  meare  Irish  in  their  language,  names,  apparell, 
and  all  their  manner  of  living,  and  had  rejected  the  En- 
glish lawes  and  submitted  themselves  to  the  Irish,  with 
whom  they  had  made  marriages  and  alliances,  which 
tended  to  the  utter  ruine  and  destruction  of  the  common- 
wealth. Therefore,  alliance  by  marriage,  nurture  of 
infants,  and  gossipred  with  the  Irish  are  by  this  statute 
made  high  treason.  Again,  if  anie  man  of  English  race 
should  use  an  Irish  name,  Irish  language,  or  Irish  ap- 
parell, or  any  other  guise  or  fashion  of  the  Irish,  if  he  had 
lands  or  tenements,  the  same  should  be  seized,  till  he  had 
given  security  to  the  chancery,  to  conform  himself  in  all 
points  to  the  English  manner  of  living.  And  if  he  had 
no  lands,  his  bodie  was  to  be  taken  arid  imprisoned,  till 
he  found  surety  as  aforesaid."  And  again  the  same 
author  in  his  Disc.  p.  174,  etc.,  says  :  "  But  the  most 
wicked  and  mischievous  custome  of  all  others  was  that  of 
Coygne  and  Livery,  often  before  mentioned,  which  con- 
sisted in  taking  of  mans-meate,  horse  meate,  and  money 
of  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  at  the  will  and  pleas- 
ure of  the  soldier,  who  as  the  phrase  of  the  Scripture  is, 
did  eate  up  the  people  as  it  were  bread,  for  he  had  no 
other  entertainment.  This  extortion  was  originally  Irish, 
for  they  used  to  lay  bonaght,  (that  is,  freequarters)  upon 
their  people,  and  never  gave  their  soldiers  any  other  pay. 
But  when  the  English  had  learned  it,  they  used  it  with 
more  insolencey  and  made  it  more  intolerable,  for  this 
oppression  was  not  temporary,  or  limited  either  to  place 
or  time,  but  because  there  was  everywhere  a  continuall 
warre  either  offensive  or  defensive,  and  everv  lord  of  a 
conntrie,  and  every  marcher  made  warre  and  peace  at  his 
pleasure,  it  became  universal  and  perpetuall;  and  was 
indeede  the  most  heavy  oppression  that  ever  was  used  in 
anie  Christian  or  Heathen  Kingdom,  and  therefore  vox 
oppresorum,  this  crying  sinne  did  drawe  down  as 
great  or  greater  plagues  upon  Ireland  than  the  oppres- 
sion of  the  Israelites  did  draw  upon  the  land  of  Egypt. 
For  the  plagues  of  Egypt,  though  they  were  grievous, 


OPPRESSION   THE    CAUSE   OF   IDLENESS.  57 

were  of  a  short  continuance;  but  these  plagues  of  Ireland 
lasted  400  years  together.  This  extortion  of  coygne  and 
livery  did  produce  two  notorious  effects.  First,  it  made 
the  land  waste;  next,  it  made  the  people  idle.  For  when 
the  husbandman  had  laboured  all  the  yeare,  the  soldiers 
did  in  one  night  consume  the  fruites  of  all  his  labour, 
longique  perit  labor  irritus  anne.  Had  he  reason  then 
to  manure  the  land  for  the  next  year?  *  *  *  * 

HEREUPON,    OP    NECESSITY,    CAME  DEPOPULATION, 

banishment  and  extirpation  of  the  better  class  of  sub- 
jects, and  such  as  remained  became  idle  and  lookers-on, 
expecting  the  event  of  those  miserable  and  evil  times,  so 
as  this  extreme  extortion  and  oppression  had  been  the 
true  cause  of  idleness  in  this  Irish  nation  ;  and  that 
rather  the  vulgar  sort  have  chosen  to  be  beggars  in  for- 
raign  countries,  than  to  manure  their  own  fruitful  soil  at 
home.  Lastly,  this  oppression  did,  of  force  and  neces- 
sity, make  the  Irish  a  crafty  people  ;  for  such  as  are  op- 
pressed and  live  in  slavery,  are  ever  put  to  their  shifts, 
ingenium  mala  semper  movent,  and  it  is  said  in  an 
ancient  discourse  of  the  decay  of  Ireland,  that  though 
4  ( this  custom  of  Coygne  and  Livery)"1  were  first  in- 
vented in  Hell,  yet  if  it  had  been  used  and  practiced 
there,  as  it  hath  been  in  Ireland,  it  had  long  since 
destroyed  the  very  kingdom  of  Belzebub." 

The  limited  scope  of  this  work  will  not  afford  space  in 
which  to  tell  the  story  of  the  reigns  of  the  sixteen  mon- 
archs  who  rose  in  England  from  the  invasion  of  Ireland 
by  Henry  II,  to  the  reformation  under  Henry  VIII. 
Suffice  it  to  sum  it  all  up  in  a  sentence.  It  was  an 
uninterrupted  series  of  oppression  by  the  rulers,  and 
continual  discord,  warfare  and  wretchedness  of  the  peo- 
ple. 

Henry  VIII  was  the  first  monarch  who  assumed  the 
title  of  King  of  Ireland;  his  predecessors  had  been  con- 
tented with  the  style  and  title  of  Lord  of  Ireland  con- 
ferred upon  Henry  II  by  Pope  Adrian  IV.  'The  collation 
of  the  royal  dignity  by  the  Irish  nation  alone,  is  a  proof 
and  a  full  recognition  by  England,  of  the  absolute  sov- 


58  CIVILIZATION    BY   ROBBERY. 

ereignty  and  independence  of  the  Irish  nation.  (Plowden, 
Vol.  1,  p.  54:}. 

"  From  the  first  settlement  of  the  English  in  Ire- 
land, the  acquisition  of  estates  at  the  expense  of  the 
natives  seemed  to  be  their  only  object.  Hence,  the 
people  who  possessed  the  lands  were  never  viewed  in 
the  light  of  subjects  to  the  crown,  but  as  enemies,  to  be 
exterminated  by  the  new  lords  of  the  soil,  or 

NATIVES,  TO  BE  CIVILIZED  BY  ROBBERY  AND  OUTLAWRY. 

Cox  presents  us  with  the  germ  of  this  systematic  plun- 
der. "  He  says  that  so  far  back  as  the  year  1559  it  was 
one  of  the  instructions  given  to  the  Earl  of  Sussex,  when 
he  came  over  as  Lord  Deputy,  to  people  Ulster  with  Eng- 
lish. But  Sussex  was  sufficiently  engaged  in  Leinster, 
where  he  had  reduced  Leix  and  Offaly  into  shire  land  by 
the  names  of  Kings  and  Queens  counties,  and  when  he 
was  spreading  civilization  by  the  venal  agencies  of  fire 
and  sword,  and  he  had  no  time  to  fulfil  these  commands 
of  the  English  court.  An  offer  was  however  made  ten 
years  later  by  Sir  Thomas  Gerrard,  of  Lancashire,  for 
the  planting  of  the  Glynnes  and  Clandeboy.  His  pro- 
posal is  dated  March  15,  1569;  but  no  steps  were  at  that 
time  taken  on  this  proposition. 

EFFECTS    OF   THE    INVASION    ON    THE    CHARACTER    OF   THE 
PEOPLE. 

Before  entering  upon  the  means  adopted  by  successive 
sovereigns  of  England,  and  particularly  their  local  depu- 
ties in  Ireland,  it  may  be  well  for  the  general  reader 
carefully  to  digest  the  opinion  of  the  amiable  and  con- 
servative historian,  Plowden,  on  this  subject.  In  his 
Historical  Review  of  the  State  of  Ireland,  Vol.  1,  p.  2 
he,  philosophically  considering  the  subject  of  the  above 
heading,  submits  the  following  remarks:  "Although  the 
nature  of  man  be  homogeneous,  yet  different  portions  of 
the  human  race  differ  from  each  other  by  properties, 
qualities,  and  habits,  so  strongly  distinctive  as  nearly  to 
approximate  to  a  difference  of  species.  Many  are  the 
gradations  and  shades  of  these  distinctions.  True  it  is, 


EFFECTS    OF   POLITICAL    SYSTEMS   ON   MANKIND.        59 

different  political  systems  produce  powerful  effects  upon 
mankind;  they  go  great  lengths,  but  not  the  whole  way 
towards  changing  the  innate  genius,  spirit  and  character 
of  a  nation.  To  a  close  and  impartial  observer,  the  origi- 
nal national  character  will  manifest  itself,  up  to  the  remot- 
est antiquity,  under  the  strongest  influence  of  improve- 
ment or  debasement.  Without  entering  into  a  philosoph- 
ical disquisition  of  the  immediate  causes  of  a  variety  in 
national  characters,  we  may  be  allowed  to  attribute  much 
to  the  air  and  soil  of  particular  countries,  although  at  dis- 
tant periods  of  time,  many  may  be  the  instances  of  changes, 
suspensions,  and  apparent  extinctions,  of  the  most  marked 
characters  in  the  same  nations.  Faintly,  if  at  all,  can  we 
trace  a  single  line  of  the  old  Grecian  Punic  or  Roman 
characters,  through  modern  Turkey,  on  the  coasts  of 
Barbary,  or  in  the  territorial  possessions  of  the  Court  of 
Rome.  But  who  shall  assert  that  a  melioration  of  the 
political  systems  of  government  in  those  countries  would 
not  vivify  the  smothered  embers,  and  rouse  into  a  flame 
that  very  spirit,  which  was  once  the  dread  of  the  day,  and 
has  since  been  the  astonishment  of  posterity?  Yet  Ireland 
undoubtedly  stands  prominently  conspicuous  amongst 
the  nations  of  the  universe,  a  solitary  instance,  in  which 
neither  the  destructive  hand  of  time,  nor  the  devastating 
arm  of  oppression,  nor  the  widest  variety  of  changes  in  the 
political  system  of  government,  could  alter  or  subdue, 
much  less  wholly  extinguish,  the  national  genius,  spirit 
and  character  of  its  inhabitants." 

EAKLY  CONFISCATIONS  OF  THE  SOIL. 

Available  means  are  not  at  hand  for  computing  the 
amount  of  confiscations  of  land  during  this  period.  In  sub- 
sequent years  a  better  record  has  been  kept  and  the  read- 
er will  find  some  interesting  facts  and  figures  upon  this 
subject  in  succeeding  pages. 

Pljwden,  in  his  Historical  Review  of  the  State  of  Ire- 
land, Vol.  1,  pages  164-5,  quotes  the  Earl  of  Clare  as  fol- 
lows: 

"After  the  expulsion  of  James  from  the  throne  of  Eng- 
land, the  old  inhabitants  made  a  final  effort  for  the  re- 


60  CONFISCATIONS   FKOM   JAMES   I    TO    1688. 

covery  of  their  ancient  power,  in  which  they  were  once 
more  defeated  by  an  English  army,  and  the  slender  relics 
of  Irish  possessions  became  the  subject  of  fresh  confisca- 
tion. From  the  report  made  by  the  commissioners  ap- 
pointed by  the  Parliament  of  England  in  1688,  it  appears 
that  the  Irish  subjects  outlawed  for  the  rebellion  of  1698, 
amounted  to  3978,  and  that  their  Irish  possessions,  as  far  as 
could  be  computed,  were  of  the  annual  value  of  two 
hundred  and  eleven  thousand  six  hundred  and  twenty- 
three  pounds — comprising  one  million  sixty  thousand  and 
ninety-two  acres.  This  fund  was  sold  under  the  authori- 
ty of  an  English  act  of  Parliament,  to  defray  the  expense 
incurred  by  England  in  reducing  the  rebels  of  1688;  and 
the  sale  introduced  into  Ireland  a  new  set  of  adventurers." 
"It  is  a  very  curious  and  important  speculation  to  look 
back  to  the  forfeitures  Ireland  incurred  in  the  last  cen- 
tury. The  superficial  contents  of  the  Island  are  calculat- 
ed at  eleven  million  forty-two  thousand  six  hundred  and 
eighty-two  acres.  Let  us  now  examine  the  state  of  for- 
feitures: ACRES- 

In  the  reiprn  of  James  I,  the  whole  of  the  province  of 

Ulster  was  confiscated,  containing  ....  2,836,837 
Set  out  by  Court  of  Claims  at  restoration  .  .  .  7,800,000 
Forfeitures  of  1688 1,060,792 

Total 11,697,629 

"  So  that  the  whole  of  your  island  has  been  confiscated 
with  the  exception  of  the  estates  of  five  or  six  families 
of  English  blood,  some  of  whom  had  been  attainted  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  VIII,  but  recovered  their  possessions 
before  Tyrone's  rebellion,  and  had  the  good  fortune  to 
escape  the  pillage  of  the  English  Republic  inflicted  by 
Cromwell  ;  and  no  inconsiderable  portion  of  the  island 
has  been  confiscated  twice,  or  perhaps  thrice  in  the  course 
of  a  century.  The  situation,  therefore,  of  the  Irish  na- 
tion at  the  revolution  stands  unparalleled  in  the  history 
of  the  inhabited  world.  If  the  wars  of  England  carried 
on  here  from  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  had  been  waged 
against  a  foreign  country,  the  inhabitants  would  have 
retained  their  possessions,  under  the  established  law  of 
civilized  nations,  and  their  country  have  been  annexed 
as  a  province  to  the  British  Empire." 


THE   GERALDINE   FORFEITURES   IN   MtJNSTER.          61 

The  greatest  plantation  (before  that  of  James  I,)  was 
that  which  ensued  at  the 

TERMINATION  OF   THE  WAR    AGAINST    THE  EARL    OF    DES- 
MOND. 

This  great  Earl  possessed  vast  estates,  upon  which  the 
eyes  of  the  English  adventurers  and  undertakers  had  long 
been  lovingly  cast.  In  Kerry,  Cork,  Waterford  and  Lim- 
erick, his  prodigious  principality  extended  over  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles,  and  contained  574,624  acres,  on 
-.vhich  were  built  numerous  houses  and  castles.  This  ex- 
tensive territory  was  covered  with  great  herds  of  cattle, 
and  presented  an  aspect  of  high  cultivation.  The  Earl 
was  Lord  Palatine  of  Kerry,  and  Lord  of  Imokilly.  His 
vassals  were  numerous,  and  there  were  above  five  hundred 
gentlemen  of  his  ancient  lineage.  "He  levied  coygne  and 
livery  upon  his  tenants  in  Limerick.  He  had  all  the 
wrecks  of  the  sea  in  the  ports  and  creeks  of  Kerry,  and  a 
certain  sum  out  of  every  fishing  boat  in  the  ports  of  Ventry 
and  Ferreters  Island.  It  was  said  that  he  was  able  to 
raise  at  a  call  2,000  foot  and  600  horse."  (Smith,  An. 
of  Cork,  Vol.  1,  p.  51.) 

At  the  commencement  of  the  great  Geraldine  war,  the 
Earl  had  stood  aloof,  but  his  professions  of  loyalty  were 
disregarded,  and,  he  was  summoned  by  Sir  William 
Pelham,  Lord  Deputy,  to  surrender  himself  a  prisoner 
within  twenty  days.  He  refused,  for  he  well  knew  what 
his  fate  would  have  been  if  he  were  mad  enough  to  trust 
himself  into  the  hands  of  an  English  deputy.  He  was 
thus  precipitated  into  war,  which  he  waged  with  great 
spirit  and  energy  against  Pelham.  "  Desmond,  who  had 
engaged  in  this  rebellion  inconsiderately,"  says  Leland, 
"now  saw  the  whole  extent  of  his  territory  ravaged  and 
depopulated  without  mercy.  His  miserable  vassals  were 
abandoned  to  daily  slaughter,  or  to  the  still  more  horrible 
calamity  of  famine.  Fire,  famine  and  slaughter  were  let 
loose  upon  the  doomed  districts,  and  the  worse  than  can- 
nibal English  soldiers  relentlessly  slaughtered  men,  wo- 
men and  infants.  One  of  the  plunderers,  who  afterwards 
profited  by  the  spoil  of  the  Geraldine,  and  whose  sweet 


62  ENGLISH   UNDERTAKERS   IN   MTJNSTER. 

poetry  has  earned  for  him  a  fame  for  gentleness  his  po- 
litical writings  scarcely  merits,  has  in  terse  and  pictur- 
esque language  chronicled  the  horrors  which  made  his 
fortune."  (MacNevin's  Conf.  of  Ulster.) 

The  arms  of  England  triumphed.  The  Earl  met  an 
obscure  andpainful^death  at  the  hands  of  a  traitor,  Daniel 
Kelly,  of  Morierta.  His  death  ended  the  war,  though 
not  the  butcheries  of  the  soldiers,  and  Munster  was  paci- 
fied by  the  extermination  of  her  people.  The  Earl  of 
Desmond  and  about  one  hundred  and  forty  of  his  associ- 
ates were  attainted,  and  all  their  honors  and  estates  de- 
clared to  be  forfeited.  This  plunder  was  enormous.  Des- 
mond's estates  alone  were  estimated  at  five  hundred  and 
seventy-five  thousand  acres.  And  thus,  to  use  the  lan- 
guage of  her  admirers,  was  every  obstacle  removed  to 
Elizabeth's  favorite  scheme  of 

RE-PEOPLING    MUNSTER   WITH    AN    ENGLISH    COLONY. 

Letters  were  forwarded  to  every  county  in  England,  to 
encourage  younger  members  of  families  to  become  under- 
takers in  Ireland.  The  forfeitures  were  divided  into  seig- 
nories,  and  granted  to  English  knights,  esquires,  and 
gentlemen,  and  they  undertook  to  perform  certain  condi- 
tions stipulated  in  the  royal  articles  for  the  plantation  of 
the  province.  Hence  came  the  use  of  the  ominous  name 
of  undertaker  as  applied  to  these  land-robbers  of  Ireland. 

Though  12,000  acres  were  fixed  on  as  the  largest  por- 
tion for  any  one  undertaker,  the  Queen,  in  order  suitably 
to  reward  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  for  his  services  at  Golden 
Fort  (where,  after  the  garrison  had  surrendered  at  dis- 
cretion, he  slew  every  man,)  she  granted  him  forty-two 
thousand  acres  in  Cork  and  Wateribrd.  Of  this  immense 
estate  portions  were  bestowed  on  the  following  named 
undertakers :  ACRES. 

County  Waterford,  Sir  Christopher  Hutton 10,910 

County  Waterford  and  Cork,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh 42,000 

County  Waterford  and  Cork,  Richard  Bacon  6,000 

County  Cork.  Sir  Wareham  Saint  Leger,  ancestor  of  the 

Viscounts  Doneraile 6,000 

County  Cork,  Hugh  Cuffe •  •  •  • 6,000 

County  Cork,  Sir  Thomas  Norris 6,000 


CONFISCATIONS   IN    MDNSTER.  63 

County  Cork,    Arthur  Robbins 1,800 

County  Cork,  Sir  Arthur  Hyde 5,574 

County  Cork,  Francis  Beecher 12,000 

County  Cork,  Hugh  Worth 12,UOO 

County  Cork,   Thomas    Say  ...    8,778 

County  Cork,  Arthur  Hyde,  Esq  11,766 

County  Cork,   Edmund  Spenser  ("gentle  poet  ") 3,028 

County  Kerry,  Sir  Edward  Denny 6,000 

County  Kerry,  Sir  William  Herbert 13,276 

County  Kerry,  Charles  Herbert 8,768 

County  Kerry,  John  Holly 4,422 

County  Kerry,  Captain  Jenkin  Conway 526 

County  Kerry,  John  Champion 1,484 

County  Limerick,  Sir  William  Courtney 10,500 

County  Limerick,  Francis  Berkely 7,250 

County  Limerick,  Robert  Anslow 2,599 

County  Limerick,  Richard  and  Alexander  Felton 8,026 

County  Limerick,  Edmund  Mainwaring 3,747 

County  Limerick,  Win.  Trenchard 12,000 

County  Limerick,  George  Thornton    1,500 

County  Limerick,  Sir  George  Boucher 12.880 

County  Limerick,  Henry  Billingsley 11.800 

Inverary,  Thomas,  Earl  of  Ormond 3,000 

Inverary.  Sir  Edward  Tilton 11,515 

Total 205,490 

The  most  striking  feature  in  the  conditions  of  this 
plantation  was  the  exclusion  of  the  owners  of  the  soil 
from  even  the  subordinate  station  of  tenantry. 

NO  IRISH  WEKE  TO  BE  ADMITTED 

to  stand  even  in  that  humble  relation  to  the  successful 
plunderers  who  usurped  their  lands — a  provision  of 
tyranny,  possibly  the  most  impudent  that  ever  was  made. 
But  it  was  disregarded.  Some  English  historians  have 
the  coolness  to  regret  the  plantation  of  Munster  was  a 
failure  because  some  of  the  planters  did  not  respect  the 
wise  provisions  of  the  "  plot  of  the  Queen's  offer,"  and 
because  Leland  says  "  leases  and  conveyances  were  made 
to  many  of  the  Irishry."  In  many  instances  the  lands 
were  abandoned  to  the  old  possessors  ;  and  where  the 
undertakers  entered  upon  their  seignories,  they  did  not 
reside,  but  appointed  idle,  ignorant,  corrupt  and  oppres- 
sive agents.  Neither  did  they  comply  with  a  still  more 


61  THE   NEW   OWNERS   MOSTLY   ABSENTEES. 

necessary  and  wise  condition  of  the  "  Queen's  plot,'" 
namely,  to  make  provisions  for  effectual  deiense.  They 
were  thriftless  gamesters,  these  undertakers  ;  they  would 
enjoy  as  largely  as  they  could,  the  property  of  the  peo- 
ple, but  they  were  not  honest  enough  to  discharge  the 
noble  duties  of  proprietorship,  nor  wise  enough  to  make 
due  provision  against  the  natural  and  just  enmity  of 
those  whose  plunder  had  enriched  them. 

Ulster,  however,  proved  to  be  a  more  generous  field  for 
the  undertaker,  for  even  before  James'  systematic  scheme 
was  entered  upon,  we  read  that  "  about  the  year  1584  a 
thousand  Scottish  Highlanders,  called  '  Red-shanks,'  of 
the  septs  and  families  of  the  Cambiles  ( probably,  says 
MacNevin,  Campbells),  Macdonnells  and  Magalanes,  led 
by  Surleboy,  a  Scottish  chieftain,  invaded  Ulster.  Other 
surrounding  parties  of  their  nation  had  already  possessed 
themselves  of  the  lands  of  Irish  chieftains  at  the  Glynnes 
and  the  Route  in  Antrim.  It  was  at  the  beginning  of 
the  fifteenth  century  that  the  settlement  of  the  Mac- 
donnells took  place  in  Antrim.  They  were  a  younger 
branch  of  the  MacDonalds,  who  were  Kings  and  Lords 
of  the  Isle."  One  of  them,  Angus  Oge,  Lord  of  the 
Isles,  married  the  daughter  of  O'Cahan,  the  chief  of  the 
O'Cahan's,  of  Arachty.  The  marriage  portion,  this 
distinguished  lady  brought  to  her  husband,  consisted  of  a 
number  of  handsome  young  men,  "  whose  posterity  are 
yet  in  the  Isles  and  are  known  by  the  peculiarity  of  their 
names  to  belong  to  that  race. 

John  of  Isles,  the  second  son  of  John,  Lord  of  the  West- 
ern Isles,  or  -5Cbrides,  was  established  at  the  Glynnes,  in 
Argyleshire;  his  descendants  settled  in  the  north  of  Ire- 
land, one  of  whom  was  Alexander,  who  got  a  gold  sword 
and  silver  gilt  spear  from  the  Earl  of  Sussex  in  1557,  for 
his  services  in  Scotland,  and  the  monastery  and  its  lands 
of  Glenarm  were  given  to  him.  His  son  was  Sorlebuidh 
(commonly  written  Sorleboy,)  whose  son  was  the  first 
Earl  of  Antrim.  Sorlebuidh  married  Mary,  daughter  of 
Conn  O'Neill. 

These  invaders  in  time  intermarried  with  the  Irish,  and 
became  the  most  formidable  enemies  of  England  in  her 


SETTLEMENT   OF   SCOTTISH   HIGHLANDERS.  65 

designs  of  settlement.  It  was  ostensibly  to  root  out  this 
Scottish  colony  that  Elizabeth  sent  Essex  to  Ireland,  but 
his  failure  only  fixed  them  more  firmly  in  their  place  and 
in  1603  James  I  confirmed  Sir  Ronald  MacDonnell  in  the 
principality  of  the  Route. 
The  settlement  of 

THE  HONTGOMERIES  IN  THE  ARPES  OF  DOWN 

presents  some  singular  features  worthy  of  note,  inas- 
much as  they  came  with  clearer  hands  and  a  fairer  title 
than  any  of  the  Scotch  or  English  adventurers  who  had 
plundered  the  people  out  of  their  lands  since  the  advent 
of  the  Anglo-Norman.  Hugh,  the  leader  of  the  Mont- 
gomeries  into  Ireland,  was  a  well  descended  adventurer, 
and  in  addition  to  his  good  birth,  he  was  connected  with 
the  Earl  of  Eglintown  family;  he  possessed  spirit  and 
talent.  It  appears  that  Conn  O'Neill  had  sent  some  of 
his  followers  into  the  town  of  Castlereagh,  and  they  had 
become  involved  in  an  affray  with  the  soldiers,  some  of 
whom  were  killed.  Conn  and  a  number  of  his  people 
were  found  guilty  of  levying  war  on  the  Queen  (Eliza- 
beth), and  he  was  sent  to  prison  at  Carrickfergus.  While 
Conn's  matter  was  pending  the  Queen  died;  the  said 
Hugh  Montgomery,  who  was  cognizant  of  the  particulars 
of  the  affair,  obtained  from  Conn  O'Neill  a  grant  of  half 
his  lands,  on  the  condition  of  effecting  his  escape  and 
giving  him  a  shelter.  His  escape  effected,  Conn  went  to 
Scotland,  and  was  well  received  by  Hugh  and  his  wife, 
called  Laird  and  Lady  Braidstone. 

The  territories  of  Conn  O'Neill  were  very  extensive, 
consisting  of  the  entire  parishes  of  Breda,  Knock.  Kirk- 
donnell,  Hollywood,  Donaghadee,  Grey  Abbey,  St.  An- 
drews, and  a  great  part  of  the  parish  of  Drum.  The 
Laird  and  Conn  proceeded  to  London,  and  by  the  influence 
of  the  former,  with  the  Scotch  James,  obtained  Conn's 
pardon.  Conn  was  graciously  received  at  court — as 
others  of  the  name  had  been  received  before — and  orders 
given  for  letters  patent  concerning  his  Majesty's  pleasure 
in  the  matter  of  the  grant  to  Hugh  Montgomery  under 
condition  that  the  lauds  should  be  planted  with  British 
5 


66         CONN  O'NEILL  AND  THE  MONTGOMERIES. 

Protestants,  and  that  no  grant  of  fee  farm  should  be  made 
to  any  person  of  mere  Irish  extraction.  A  great  change 
was  afterwards  made  in  these  letters  patent,  whereby 
Mr.  James  Hamilton  obtained  one-third  of  the  whole  es- 
tates, "  so  that  the  sea  coasts  might  be  possessed  by  Scot- 
tish men,  who  would  be  traders  proper  for  his  Majesty's 
future  advantage."  Castlereagh,  which  Conn  had  desired 
to  retain,  was  considered  too  great  a  favor  for  an  Irish- 
man. Hamilton  and  Montgomery  were  both  Knighted. 
The  two  Knights  and  Conn  O'Neill  executed  tripartite 
indentures  to  the  effect  of  the  King's  pleasure,  but  by 
some  underhanded  arrangement  the  King's  patent  issued 
only  to  Hamilton,  and  he  was  declared  trustee  for  Conn 
O'Neill  and  Sir  Hugh  Montgomery.  In  order  to  reconcile 
Montgomery  to  yielding  up  a  portion  of  his  moiety  of  the 
O'Neill  lands,  the  King  promised  to  compensate  him  out 
of  the  Abbey  lands  and  impropriations,  which  in  a  few 
months  he  was  to  grant  in  fee.  It  soon  became  evident 
that  Hamilton  had  made  a  better  bargain  than  Montgom- 
ery had,  and  obtained  a  better  share  of  the  dividend, 
although  he  came  later  into  the  field.  He  managed  to 
engross  in  the  patent  many  more  church  lands  than  Mont- 
gomery had,  "and,"  says  an  old  chronicler,  " he  was  so 
wise  as  to  take,  on  easy  terms,  endless  leases  of  much 
more  of  Conn's  third  part,  and  from  other  despairing 
Irishes  than  Sir  Hugh  had  done.  Having  taken  posses- 
sion of  their  newly-acquired  lands,  they  were  raised  a  step 
in  the  peerage  by  the  titles  respectively  of  Lord  Mont- 
gomery, of  Ardes,  and  Lord  Hamilton,  of  Claneboy. 

Conn  O'Neill,  as  might  be  expected,  was  not  long  left 
his  thirds,  for  on  the  14th  of  March,  1G06,  only  three 
years  after  his  first  contract  with  Montgomery,  he  exe- 
cuted to  him  a  feoffment  of  all  his  lands,  and  also  a  deed 
of  sale  of  the  timber  growing  on  four  of  his  townlands. 
And  now  the  Montgomery  plantation  began  in  right  ear- 
nest. The  land,  however,  was  found  to  be  mostly  without 
inhabitants,  the  soil  had  been  reaped  with  fire  and  sword, 
and  was  desolate;  head  rents  must  be  paid  to  the  King, 
and  there  were  no  tenants  to  pay  them.  To  repair  these 
evils,  the  undertakers  made  some  of  their  friends  and 


CONN  O'NEILL  LOSES  ALL.  67 

retainers  sharers  under  them  as  freeholders  and  laborers. 
There  came  several  farmers  under  Montgomery,  gentle- 
men from  Scotland,  "of  the  names  of  Shaw,  Calderwood, 
Boyd,  Keith,  Maxwell,  Ross,  Barclay,  Moore,  Bayley, 
whose  posterity  hold  there  to  this  day.  By  the  Mont- 
gomeries  some  foundations  were  made  for  towns,  as  New- 
town,  Donaghadee,  Comber,  Old  and  New  Grey  Abbey; 
Hamilton  also  founded  towns  and  corporations,  as  Ban- 
gor,  Hollywood,  Kilileagh  ( with  a  strong  castle)  and 
Ballywater.  When  these  things  were  done,  and  a  fair 
promise  thereby  given  that  the  new  settlements  would 
have  towns  and  marts  of  trade,  the  Scots  came  there 
willingly  and  numerously,  and  became  tenants  and  sub- 
tenants to  their  countrymen,  and  the  land,  though  not 
with  its  own  children,  came  to  be  peopled  again. 

From  a  report  of  the  commissioners  appointed  by 
Parliament  to  enquire  into  the  forfeited  lands  granted  by 
William  after  the  revolution  of  1688,  the  following 
extract  is  given: 

"The  commissioners  met  with  great  difficulties  in  their 
inquiries,  which  were  occasioned  by  the  backwardness  of 
the  people  of  Ireland  to  give  any  information,  out  of  fear 
of  the  grantees,  whose  displeasure  in  that  kingdom  was 
not  easily  borne,  and  by  reports  industriously  spread 
and  believed,  that  their  inquiry  would  come  to  nothing. 
Nevertheless,  it  appeared  to  them  that  the  persons  out- 
lawed in  England,  since  the  13th  o.  February,  1688,  on 
account  of  the  late  rebellion,  amounted  in  number  to 
fifty-seven,  and  in  Ireland  to  three  thousand  nine  hun- 
dred and  twenty-one.  That  in  all  the  land  in  the  several 
counties  in  Ireland  belonging  to  the  forfeited  persons,  as 
far  as  they  could  reckon,  made  1,060,792  acres,  worth 
£211,623,  which  by  computation  of  six  years  purchase  for 
a  life,  and  thirteen  years  for  the  inheritance,  came  to  the 
full  value  of  £268,138.  That  some  of  those  lands  had 
been  restored  to  the  old  proprietors,  by  virtue  of  the  ar- 
ticles of  Limerick  and  Gallway,  and  by  his  majesty's  fa- 
vor, and  the  reversal  of  outlawries,  and  royal  pardons,  ob- 
tained chiefly  by  gratifications  to  such  persons  as  had 
abused  his  majesty's  royal  bounty  and  commission. 


68  EEPORT   ON   FORFEITED   LANDS   AFTER    1688. 

"  Besides  these  restitutions,  which  they  thought  to  be 
corruptly  procured,  they  gave  an  account  of  seventy-six 
grants  and  custodiums  under  the  great  seal  of  Ireland; 
as  to  the  Lord  Rumney  three  grants  now  in  being,  con- 
taining 49,517  acres;  to  the  Earl  of  Albemarle  in  two 
grants,  108,633  acres,  in  possession  and  reversion;  to 
William  Bentwick,  Esq.,  Lord  Woodstock,  135,820  acres 
of  land;  to  the  Earl  of  Athlone,  to  grants,  containing 
20,480  acres,  etc,  to  the  Earl  of  Galloway,  on  grant, 
36,148  acres,  wherein  they  observed  that  the  estates 
so  mentioned,  did  not  yield  so  much  to  the  grant- 
ers  as  they  were  valued  at,  because,  as  most  of 
them  had  abused  his  Majesty  in  the  real  value  of  the 
estates,  so  their  agents  had  imposed  upon  them,  and  had 
either  sold  or  let  the  greater  part  of  those  lands  at  an 
under  value.  But  after  all  deductions  and  allowances, 
there  yet  remained  £1,699,343. 14s.  which  they  lay  before 
the  Commons  as  the  gross  value  of  the  estates  since  the 
13th  day  of  February,  1688,  and  not  restored;  besides 
a  grant  under  the  great  seal  of  Ireland,  dated  the  13th 
of  May,  1695,  passed  to  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Villiers,  now  Coun- 
tess of  Orkney,  of  all  the  private  estates  of  the  late  King 
James  ( except  some  part  in  grant  to  Lord  Athlone), 
containing  95,649  acres,  worth  per  annum  £25, 995. 18s., 
value  total,  £331, 943. 9s.  Concluding  that  there  was 
payable  out  of  this  estate,  £2,000  per  annum  to  Mrs. 
Godfrey  for  her  life,  and  that  almost  all  the  old  leases 
determined  in  1701;  and  this  estate  would  answer  the 
value  above  mentioned."  This  report  is  signed  by  the 
Parliamentary  Commissioners,  Francis  Annesley,  John- 
Trenchard,  James  Hamilton  and  Henry  Langford.  The 
Court  Commissioners  were  Henry,  Earl  of  Drogheda, 
Sir  Richard  Leving  and  Sir  Francis  Brewster.  It  would 
be  interesting  to  discover  what  were  the  valuable  ser- 
vices rendered  by  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Villiers  (she  was  made 
Countess  of  Orkney  in  1695  )  in  quelling  the  insurrec- 
tion in  Ireland,  to  entitle  her  to  so  munificent  a  reward  as 
a  grant  of  95,649  acres,  at  that  time  worth  £25,995. 18s. 


ACCESSION   OF   JAMES   THE   FIKST.  69 

SUBMISSION  OF  THE  NORTHERN  CHIEFTAINS. 

The  Ulster  princes,  beaten  and  baffled  on  every  hand, 
deserted  by  some  of  their  adherents  who  took  the  bribes 
of  England,  and  maddened  by  dissensions,  were  at  last 
obliged  to  come  to  terms  of  peace.  Elizabeth,  knowing 
and  acknowledging  the  prowess  of  the  O'Neill,  was  will- 
ing to  make  favorable  terms.  The  deputy,  Mountjoy, 
met  O'Neil  at  Mellefont  Abbey  in  March,' 1603.  Terms 
were  there  arranged.  The  Ulster  prince  should  relinquish 
the  title  of  O'Neill,  and  assume  that  of  Earl  of  Tyrone,  and 
make  submission  to  the  English  throne,  but  was  allowed 
free  exercise  of  his  religion,  and  the  greater  portions  of 
his  lands  should  become  his  by  a  grant  from  the  Eng- 
lish crown.  These  were  certainly  favorable  terms  and 
speak  well  for  the  high  opinion  entertained  of  O'Neill 
by  Elizabeth. 

ACCESSION  OF  JAMES  I. 

Scarcely  had  the  negotiations  been  concluded  when 
James  succeeded  to  the  throne  on  the  death  of  Eliza- 
beth, as  a  prince  of  Celtic  blood,  and  the  son  of  a  Catho- 
lic mother,  the  Irish  expected  kindly  treatment  at  the 
hands  of  James.  How  miserably  they  were  disappointed 
is  well  known.  The  pedantic  and  hypocritical  king  was 
surrounded  by  a  lot  of  adventurers,  hungry  Scotch  vul- 
tures, ready  to  whet  their  beaks  on  any  kind  of  prey. 
James  was  equally  needy  and  extravagant.  What  could 
he  do  to  satisfy  his  followers  and  provide  for  himself  ? 
Should  any  estates  become  the  property  of  the  crown  he 
could  satisfy  all.  It  was  soon  discovered  that  O'Neill 
was  uneasy,  and  a  pretense  was  made  of  finding  a  com- 
munication which  indicated  that  he  and  other  princes 
were  implicated  in  a  conspiracy  to  murder  the  lord  dep- 
uty. He  was  summoned  to  Dublin  and  afterwards  to 
London  to  answer  to  the  charge,  but  wisely  believing 
that  there  was  no  justice  to  be  had  in  either  place,  and 
being  utterly  unable  to  offer  any  armed  resistance  to  the 
encroachments  of  the  "  hangers-on  "  of  James,  he  fled  to 
Normandy,  and  thence  to  Italy,  visiting  most  of  the  Eu- 
ropean courts,  where  he  was  received  with  great  distinc- 


70  COMMISSION    ON   DEFECTIVE   TITLES. 

tion.  O'Sullivan,  who  had  made  such  a  gallant  resist- 
ance in  the  South,  fled  to  Spain  where  he  distinguished 
himself  in  the  service  of  the  State,  and  was  treacherously 
assassinated  by  an  Englishman.  Cahir  O'Doherty,  who 
was  a  most  "  trooly  loil "  subject  of  England,  was  forced 
into  a  revolt,  and  the  whole  province  of  Ulster  was  con- 
fiscated to  the  crown,  and  conferred  by  James  on  his 
beggarly  Scotch  retainers,  and  on  some  London  compa- 
nies as  an  equivalent  for  various  loans  made  to  sustain 
the  bibulous  and  lecherous  monarch,  his  lackeys  and  miss- 
tresses. 

One  hundred  and  ten  thousand  acres  in  Tyrone  and 
Tyrconnell  were  thus  given  to  the  mercer's,  tailor's,  tin- 
ner's and  other  societies.  A  commission  was  instituted 
to  examine  into  defective  titles,  and  385,000  acres  in 
Leinster,  held  on  what  the  commissioners  were  pleased 
to  call  defective  titles,  were  also  confiscated,  and  con- 
ferred on  the  commissioners  and  their  friends. 

Thus  was  the  entire  province  of  Ulster  and  no  incon- 
siderable portion  of  Leinster,  taken  from  the  rightful 
owners.  The  Irish  were  reduced  to  abject  poverty, 
their  religion  banned,  education  save  by  the  robber's 
band,  forbidden;  the  native  chiefs  were  driven  into  exile, 
and  nothing  was  heard  of  them  for  some  time,  save  as 
free  lances  in  the  armies  of  every  nation  opposed  to 
England. 

BEIGN  OP  JAMES  THE  FIRST. 

On  the  5th  of  April,  1603,  James  I.  ascended  the 
throne.  The  genius  of  his  predecessor  had  removed 
every  difficulty  to  his  government  in  England  ;  and  in 
Ireland,  he  was  the  first  English  monarch  whose  dominion 
extended  over  the  whole  island.  Though  to  Elizabeth,  un- 
der the  policy  of  the  crafty  and  astute  Mountjoy,  is  due 
the  credit  of  the  submission  of  Hugh  O'Neill ;  she  did 
not  live  to  enjoy  the  homage  of  her  brave  foe.  His 
capitulation  was  not  signed  until  after  her  death,  a  fact 
which  was  wisely  concealed  from  him.  The  two  great 
northern  chiefs,  Hugh  O'Neill  and  Roderick  O'Donnell 
were  received  at  Court  in  a  flattering  manner,  and 
O'Neill  was  confirmed  in  all  his  property  and  possessions 


ENGLISH    DOMINION   OVEK   ALL   IRELAND.  71 

with  the  title,  Earl  of  Tyrconnell.  James  published  an 
act  of  oblivion  and  indemnity.  The  English  laws  of  inheri- 
tance and  English  tenures  were  adopted  in  place  of  the 
customs  formerly  prevailing  of  Tanistry  and  Gavelkind. 
"The  commission  of  Grace"  issued,  under  which  the 
Irish  Lords  yielded  their  estates  to  the  Crown,  and  re- 
ceived them  again  under  the  English  titles  of  Knight 
Service  or  Common  Soccage  ;  inquisitions  were  holden 
into  the  amount  of  land  in  possession  of  the  chieftains, 
in  order  that  none  should  receive  a  re-grant  of  more  than 
was  actually  in  his  possession  ;  and  the  tenants  under 
each  lord,  relieved  of  uncertain  contributions  and  exac- 
tions, held  their  lands  subject  to  an  annual  rent  and  free 
tenures.  O'Neill  having  made  his  submission,  their  was 
but  little  resistance  to  the 

INTRODUCTION   OP   ENGLISH     LAW   INTO   ULSTER. 

The  country  was  divided  into  counties,  and  Sheriffs 
appointed  to  administer  the  provisions  of  the  .English 
law.  Peace  seemed,  for  a  brief  moment,  to  hover  over 
this  war-desolated  and  harassed  country.  "  Equal  laws 
and  civilized  customs,"  under  English  rule,  were  intended 
solely  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  conformed  to  the  prac- 
tices of  the  Church,  as  by  law  established.  An  Act  of 
Uniformity,  passed  in  a  Parliament  of  the  Pale,  in  the 
second  year  of  Elizabeth,  was  published  in  Dublin  by  the 
King's  Council,  by  which  attendance  on  Catholic  wor- 
ship was  prohibited  under  severe  penalties.  On  the  4th 
of  July,  1605,  a  royal  proclamation  issued,  by  the  terms 
of  which  James  effectually  dispelled  the  ideas  of  all  who 
had  vainly  expected  freedom  of  conscience,  or  even  the 
barest  religious  toleration,  from  him.  He  told  "  his  be- 
loved subjects  "  that  he  would  not  admit  anything  of  the 
kind,  and  fixed  a  certain  day  for  every  Catholic  priest  to 
depart  the  realm  or  abide  the  consequences.  "  And  then 
commenced  a  religious  war  of  great  cruelty  and  folly. 
The  magistrates  and  citizens  of  Dublin  were  enjoined  to 
repair  to  the  churches  of  the  Establishment.  The  prisons 
were  peopled  with  "  recusants,"  the  priests  were  forced 
to  fly  the  country,  or  else  conceal  themselves  in  secret 


72  ENGLISH   LAWS   INTRODUCED. 

places,  to  avoid  the  gibbet  and  the  lash.  The  terrors  of 
the  penal  law,  let  loose  by  the  theologic  fury  of  the  King, 
were  increased  by  the  avarice  and  cruelty  of  the  san- 
guinary Chichester.  Up  to  the  year  1G05  the  sees  of 
Derry,  Raphoe  and  Clogher,  which  extended  over  the 
greater  part  of  Ulster,  had  been  occupied  by  Roman 
Catholic  prelates;  and  the  abbeys  and  monasteries,  which 
had  been  formally  dissolved  half  a  century  before,  still 
continued  to  be  the  centers  round  which  flocked  numer- 
ous priests,  friars  and  other  ecclesiastical  persons.  But 
the  publication  of  this  Proclamation  was  the  signal  for 
returning  into  the  King's  hands  those  edifices  of  religion 
and  ejecting  their  inmates.  And  what  made  these  op- 
pressions more  bitter  in  the  North  was  the  striking  fact 
that  there,  as  we  may  conclude  from  Davies'  account  of 
Chichester's  progress  in  Ulster  in  1607,  there  was  not  a 
single  Protestant  outside  the  numerous  garrisons  of  the 
English.  By  the  same  authority,  we  find  that  up  to  this 
period  it  was  impossible  that  the  principles  of  the  Refor- 
mation could  have  been  at  all  known  in  Ulster,  for  no 
religious  teaching  had  been  provided  for  the  people.  The 
tidings  of  a  reformed  religion  were  preached  from  no  pul- 
pit; the  rectors  and  bishops  who  had  been  appointed 
were  non-resident,  and  the  Catholics  were  reduced  to  the 
alternative  of  enduring  penalties  for  the  profession  of  the 
faith  they  had  been  reared  in  or  embracing  a  religio  i  in 
which  they  had  received  no  spiritual  instruction.  All 
apprehension  of  an  Irish  war  being  allayed  by  the  sub- 
mission of  the  northern  chieftains,  whose  powers  seemed 
utterly  broken,  my  Lord  Deputy  proceeded  to  settle  those 
counties.  The  expedient  was  adopted  of  getting  up  fic- 
titious plots  and  fastening  them  upon  whatever  party 
they  designed  to  plunder  and  ruin.  The  King's  Bishop 
of  Meath  gives  this  account  of  the  matter,  which  has  been 
generally  accepted  as  the  most  correct  version:  "  A.  D. 
1007  there  was  a  providential 

DISCOVERY  OF  ANOTHER  REBELLION  IN  IRELAND, 

the  Lord  Chichester  being  deputy,  the  discoverer  not 
being  willing  to  appear,  a  letter  from  him  not  subscribed, 


SHAM    REBELLION.  73 

was  superscribed  to  Sir  William  Usher,  clerk  of  the 
Council,  and  dropped  in  the  council  chamber  of  Dublin 
Castle,  in  which  was  mentioned  a  design  for  seizing  the 
Castle  and  surrendering  the  Deputy  with  a  general  revolt 
and  dependence  on  the  Spanish  forces;  and  this  also  for 
religion,  for  particulars,  whereof,  says  the  bishop,  "  I 
refer  to  that  letter  dated  March  the  19th,  1607."  By 
such,  and  similar  means,  "Artful  Cecil  "  succeeded  in 
fixing  upon  O'Neill  and  O'Donneil  a  charge  of  treason,  to 
sustain  which,  there  had  not  been  then,  or  unto  this  day  a 
particle  of  evidence  disclosed.  Having  a  wholesome 
terror  of  juries,  which  in  those  days,  as  in  later  ones, 
have  ever  proved  in  the  hands  of  English  manipulators, 
pliant  tools  for  the  sure  condemnation  of  Irish  patriots. 
The  chiefs,  with  their  families,  took  shipping  from 
Lough  Swilly,  and  departed  to  France,  never  more  to 
return.  Here  was  brought  about  the  very  state  of  affairs 
that  James  had  long  desired.  "  Nothing,"  says  Dr.  Leland, 
"could  be  more  favorable  to  that  passion,  which  James 
indulged  for  reforming  Ireland,  by  the  introduction  of 
English  laws  and  ^civility.  The  flight  of  the  chiefs  was 
rapidly  followed  by  a  commission  empowered  to  deal 
with  "  traitors  "  and  to  take  an  account  of  the  lands 
which  were  to  escheat  to  the  Crown.  The  two  Earls 
were  duly  attainted  of  High  Treason,  together  with  sev- 
eral other  chieftains,  and  the  darling  project  of  the 
rapacious  James. 

THE  PLANTATION  OF  ULSTER 

commenced.  But  so  flagitious  did  the  proceeding  ap- 
pear, even  to  himself,  that  he  feared  the  representations 
of  his  outlawed  and  fugitive  subjects  would  meet  with  a 
ready  credence  from  the  sympathies  of  Catholic  Europe. 
He  resolved  to  prevent  such  a  result  by  publishing  a 
statement  of  his  own  case,  which  he  attempted  by  procla- 
mation, dated  15th  November,  1607.  It  is  the  basest 
and  most  despicable  document  preserved  amongst  the 
State  papers  of  the  English  Government.  It  stated 
what  was  notoriously  false,  that  the  Earls  "  were  base 
and  rude  in  their  originall;"  that  they  had  not  their  pos- 


74:  JAMES'  PLANTATION  SCHEME. 

sessions  by  lawful  or  lineal  descent  from  ancestors  of 
blood  or  virtue;  and  that  their  only  reason  for  flight  was 
the  private  knowledge  and  inward  terror  "of  their  own 
guiltiness."  A  much  more  unblushing  falsehood  was, 
that  they  had  endured  no  molestation  on  the  ground  of  re- 
ligion, and  that  the  manners  of  the  Earls  were  so  barbarous 
and  unchristian,  that  it  would  be  unreasonable  to  trouble 
them  about  any  form  of  faith,  much  more  to  this  purpose, 
equally  malignant  and  untrue,  did  James's  proclamation 
contain;  but  it  was  without  effect.  Its  manifest  false- 
hood and  undisguised  rancor  deprived  it  of  any  power  to 
work  evil  against  the  fugitives,  in  that  quarter  where 
James  was  most  anxious  to  misrepresent  and  injure  them. 
They  continued  the  honored  guests  of  the  courts  of  Eu- 
rope, illustrious  examples  of  the  great  reverses  of  fortune, 
and  of  the  perfidy  of  monarchs." 

"The  Irish  chiefs  possessed  the  suzerainte  but  not 
the  property  of  the  soil;  consequently  the  guilt  of  O'Neill 
and  O'Dougherty,  though  ever  so  clearly  proved,  could  not 
affect  the  right  to  their  feudatories,  who  were  not  even 
accused  of  treason.  The  English  law  of  forfeiture,  in  it- 
self sufficiently  unjust,  never  declared  that  the  innocent 
tenants  should  be  sacrificed  for  the  rebellion  of  the  land- 
lords ;  it  only  placed  the  king  in  the  place  of  the  person 
whose  property  had  been  forfeited,  and  left  all  the  rela- 
tions of  the  landlord  unaltered.  Yet  were  all  the  actual 
holders  of  lands  in  these  devoted  districts  dispossessed 
without  even  the  shadow  of  a  pretense  ;  and  this  abomin- 
able wickedness  is  even  at  the  present  day  eulogised  by 
many  as  the  consummation  of  political  wisdom.  "  (De- 
Beaumont's  Ireland,  Vol.  1.) 

However  not  without  one  gallant,  even  if  futile,  protest 
was  the  great  iniquity  perpetrated.  Sir  Cahir  O'Dougher- 
ty, the  prince  of  Inishowen,  a  man  young  in  years,  de- 
termined to  assert  his  independence.  Gathering  his  fol- 
lowers around  him,  he  surprised  the  town  of  Derry,  slew 
the  governor  and  took  various  English  stations.  He  pur- 
sued a  vigorous  guerilla  warfare  for  about  five  months, 
when  a  chance  shot  having  killed  their  leader,  his  follow- 
ers dispersed,  and  any  who  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Eng- 
lish were  savagely  executed  with  but  short  shrift. 


CONFISCATIONS   UNDER   JAMES   I.  75 

This  was  the  last  blow  attempted  in  Ulster,  which 
thenceforward  presented  a  scene  of  misery,  desolation 
and  helplessness  on  the  part  of  the  people,  which 
afforded  the  reforming  spirit  of  James  an  unobstructed 
field  in  which  to  carry  out  his  long  contemplated  designs 
of  rapine  and  spoliation.  A  large  tract  of  land  in  the  six 
northern  counties,  Tyrowen  the  principality  of  O'Neill  ; 
Coleaiine,  or  Derry,  O'Cahan's  country;  Donegal, 
the  principality  of  O'Donnell;  Fermanagh,  McGuire's 
country;  Cavan,  O'Reilly's  country;  and  Armagh  fell  into 
James'  hands  by  a  forced  construction  of  the  law  of  for- 
feiture and  escheat.  The  suppression  of  O'Dougherty's 
attempt  cleared  the  way  for  the  completion  of  the  policy 
of  fraud  and  violence  by  which  a  splendid  country  was 
torn  from  its  just  possessors,  and  an  ancient  people 
banished  from  the  dwellings  of  their  fathers.  By  means 
of  these  shameful  sham-plots,  or  pretended  conspiracies 
to  excite  rebellion,  five  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land 
were  basely  pillaged  and  handed  over  to  the  rapacious 
James  of  England. 

James  determined  to  dispose  of  the  lands  to  his 
English  and  Scotch  subjects,  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
original  Irish  owners.  For  the  absence  of  integrity  and 
national  honor  in  such  a  proceeding,  there  was  in  the 
opinion  of  the  king  and  his  courtiers,  an  ample  compen- 
sation in  the  purposes  of  peace  and  conciliation  to  which 
he  intended  to  apply  the  vast  bulk  of  forfeited  property 
which  had  come  into  his  hands.  That  his  opinions  and 
determinations  on  this  subject  were  of  long  standing, 
we  may  assume,  from  the  fact  that  Lord  Bacon's  first 
suggestions  for  the  planting  of  Ireland  bear  date  long 
before  the  flight  of  the  Earls.  Indeed,  it  is  impossible  to 
resist  the  belief  that  from  the  beginning  of  this  reign 
Cecil  and  the  other  courtiers,  surrounded  by  hungry, 
ambitious  and  reckless  adventurers  having  hoards  of 
useless  retainers,  with  a  deficient  public  revenue,  and 
anxious  it  may  be  admitted,  to  establish  permanent  peace 
in  Ireland,  where  the  most  enormous  expenses  had  been 
incurred  in  the  long  continuance  of  war,  had  planned 
the  sham-plot,  the  flight  and  the  forfeiture,  at  once  to 


76  CONFISCATIONS   UNDER   JAMES   I. 

get  rid  of  the  enemies  of  England,  to  provide   for  their 
hungry  applicants,  and 

TO  GARRISON  IRELAND  FOR  THE  ENGLISH  CROWN. 

The  six  counties  which  were  marked  as  the  prey  of  the 
undertakers  for  the  Wingfields,  the  Caulfields,  the 
Chichesters,  and  the  Blayneys,  exceeded  in  length  and 
breadth  the  large  counties  of  Yorkshire  and  Lancashire, 
in  England.  No  part  of  Ireland  was  more  rich  in  natu- 
ral fertility  and  cultivation,  and  though  the  barbarous 
hand  of  English  rapine  had  been  busy  during  the  recent 
wars  with  its  teeming  fields,  it  yet  bore  to  the  hungry 
hordes  that  awaited  its  partition,  the  abundant  promise 
of  untold  wealth.  James  himself  is  the  safest  witness 
that  can  be  called  to  testify  to  the  natural  wealth  and 
fertility  of  the  soil  he  was  about  to  plant.  In  seeking  to 
persuade  "  the  incomparable  city  of  London  "  to  under- 
take a  Northern  Plantation,  he  presented  them  with  the 
following  "  Reasons  and  Motives"  : 

THE  LAND  COMMODITIES    WHICH  THE    NORTH  OF    IRELAND 
PRODUCETII. 

"  The  country  is  well  watered,  generally  by  an  abund- 
ance of  springs,  brooks  and  rivers;  and  plenty  of  fuel, 
either  by  means  of  wood,  or  where  that  is  wanting  of 
good  and  wholesome  turf. 

"It  yieldeth  store  of  all  necessaries  for  man's  suste- 
nance, in  such  measures  as  may  not  only  maintain  itself, 
but  also  furnish  the  city  of  London  yearly,  with  manifold 
provisions,  especially  for  their  fleets,  namely,  with  beef, 
pork,  fish,  rye,  bere,  peas  and  beans,  which  will  also,  in 
some  years,  help  the  dearth  of  the  city  and  country  about, 
and  the  storehouses  appointed  for  the  relief  of  the  poor. 

"  As  it  is  fit  for  all  sorts  of  husbandry,  so  for  breeding 
of  mares  and  increase  of  cattle  it  doth  excel,  whence 
may  be  expected,  butter,  cheese,  hides  and  tallow. 

"  English  sheep  will  breed  abundantly  in  Ireland,  the 
sea-coast,  and  the  nature  of  the  soil,  being  very  whole- 
some for  them;  and,  if  need  be,  wool  might  be  had 
cheaply  and  plentifully  out  of  the  west  parts  of  Scotland. 


CONFISCATIONS    UNDEK   JAMES   I.  77 

"  It  is  held  to  be  good  in  many  places  for  madder, 
hops,  and  woad. 

"  It  affordeth  fells  of  all  sorts,  in  great  quantity,  red 
deer,  foxes,  sheep,  lamb,  rabbits,  martins,  squirrels,  etc. 

"Hemp  and  flax  do  more  naturally  grow  there  than  else- 
where; which  being  well  regarded,  might  give  great  pro- 
vision for  canvass,  cables,  cordage,  and  such  like  requi- 
sites for  shipping,  besides  thread,  linen  cloth,  and  all 
stuffs  made  of  linen  yarn,  which  is  more  fine  and  plenti- 
ful there  than  in  all  the  rest  of  the  kingdom. 

"  Materials  for  building — timber,  stone  of  all  sorts, 
limestone,  slate  and  shingles  are  afforded  in  most  parts 
of  the  country,  and  the  soil  is  good  for  brick  and  tile. 

"Materials  for  building  of  ships,  excepting  tar,  are 
there  to  be  had  in  great  plenty,  and  in  the  country  ad- 
joining, the  goodliest  and  largest  timber  in  the  woods  of 
Glanconkene  and  Killetrough  that  may  be,  and  may 
compare  with  any  in  his  Majesty's  dominions,  which  may 
easily  be  brought  to  the  sea  by  Lough  Neagh,  and  the 
river  of  the  Bann.  The  fir  masts,  of  all  sorts,  may  be 
had  out  of  Lochabar,  in  Scotland,  not  far  distant  from 
the  North  of  Ireland,  much  more  easily  than  from  Nor- 
way; other  sorts  of  wood  do  afford  many  services,  for 
pipe  staves,  hogshead  staves,  clapboard  staves,  wainscot 
soap  and  dyeing  ashes,  glass  and  iron  work,  for  iron  and 
copper  ore  are  there  plentifully  had. 

"  The  country   is  very  plentiful  for  honey  and  wax. 

"  THE  SEA  AND  RIVEK  COMMODITIES." 

"  The  harbor  of  the  river  of  Derry  is  exceeding  good, 
and  the  road  of  Portrush  and  Lough  Swilly,  not  far  dis- 
tant from  Derry,  tolerable. 

"  The  sea  fishing  of  that  coast  is  very  plentiful  of  all 
manner  of  usual  sea  fish,especially  herrings  and  seals,there 
being  yearly ,after  Michaelmas,for  taking  of  herrings  above 
seven  or  eight  score  of  his  Majesty's  subjects  and  strangers 
for  lading,  besides  an  infinite  number  of  boats  for  fishing 
and  killing.  Great  and  profitable  fishing  are  in  the 
next  adjacent  islands  of  Scotland,  where  many  Holland- 
ers do  fish  all  the  summer  season,  and  do  plentifully  vend 


78  THE   GOODLY   COMMODITIES   OF    ULSTER. 

their  fish,  and  within  the  Straits  much  train  or  fish  oil, 
of  seal,  herrings,  etc,  may  be  made  upon  that  coast. 

"As  the  sea  yieldeth  very  great  plenty  and  variety  of 
fine  sea  fish,  so  doth  the  coast  afford  an  abundance  of  all 
manner  of  sea-fowl,  and  the  rivers  greater  store  of  fresh 
fish  than  any  of  the  rivers  in  England. 

"  There  is  also  some  store  of  good  pearls  upon  this 
coast,  especially  within  the  river  of  Lough  Foyle. 

"The  coasts  be  ready  for  traffic  with  England  and  Scot- 
land, and  for  supply  of  provision  from  or  to  them,  and 
do  lie  open  and  convenient  for  Spain  and  the  Straits,  and 
fittest  and  nearest  for  Newfoundland. 

THIS  COUNTRY,  SO  BLEST  BY  NATURE, 

in  her  most  bountiful  mood,  was  possessed  by  a  brave, 
war-like  and  religious  people.  They  were  'frank,  amor- 
ous, ireful,  sufferable  of  paines  infinite,  very  glorious, 
excellent  horsemen,  delighted  with  wars,  great  alms-giv- 
ers, passing  in  hospitalitie,'  so  wrote  Campion  in  his  'His- 
toric of  Ireland.' " 

"  In  battle  "  says  Lingard,  in  his  History,  Vol.  2,  p. 
249,  "  they  measured  the  valour  of  the  combatants  by 
their  contempt  of  artificial  assistance;  and  when  they  be- 
held the  English  Knights  covered  with  iron,  hesitated  not 
to  pronounce  them  void  of  courage.  Their  own  arms 
were  a  short  lance,  or  two  javelins,  a  sword  called  a 
skean,  about  fifteen  inches  long,  and  an  axe  of  steel  called 
a  sparthe.  The  latter  proved  a  most  formidable  weapon. 
It  was  wielded  with  one  hand,  but  with  such  address  and 
impetuosity  as  generally  to  penetrate  through  the  best 
tempered  armour.  If  we  were  to  judge  by  modern  En- 
glish historians,  the  Irish  people  at  the  accession  of  James — 
nay  some,  like  the  bigot  Hume,  have  said  from  the  earliest 
periods  — were  buried  in  the  most  profound  barbarism,  even 
though  from  the  fifth  century  they  had  enjoyed  the  light 
of  Christianity,  and  though  the  priests  and  missionaries 
of  the  country  had  preserved,  through  mediaeval  gloom, 
both  faith  and  learning,  and  propagated  them  through 
the  world.  In  the  tenth  century,  ere  the  history  of  En- 
gland had  well  begun,  and  when  the  greatest  part  of 


THE   VALOR   AND    PKOWESS   OF   THE   NATIVES.         79 

Europe  was  involved  in  darkness,  a  steady  light  of  piety 
and  learning  continued  to  shine  in  this  island,  and  shed 
its  rays  over  the  neighboring  countries.  In  the  schools  of 
the  continent,  the  Irish  scholars  continued  to  retain  their 
former  superiority,  and  amongst  the  dwarf  intellects  of 
that  time  towered  as  giants,  (See  Morris'  His.,  Vol.  2,  p. 
30.)  In  France  and  Germany,  the  monasteries  of  the 
Irish,  the  only  retirements  for  piety  and  learning  in  an 
ungodly  age,  were  flourishing,  and  the  fame  of  Irish 
scholars  was  cheerfully  recognized.  Irish  monks  founded 
a  school  at  Glastonbury,  in  England,  where  St.  Dunstan 
imbibed  under  their  teaching  the  very  marrow  of  spirit- 
ual learning.  There  that  distinguished  ornament  of  the 
English  Church  was  learnedly  accomplished,  according  to 
the  acquisitions  of  the  time,  in  astronomy,  arithmetic  and 
geometry;  and  there,  too,  he  cultivated  that  sweet  taste 
for  music,  in  which  he  indulged  through  his  life.  (Will- 
iam of  Malmesbury's  Life  of  St.  Dunstan,  Vol.  2,  p.  134.) 
And  so  did  piety  and  virtue  continue  to  flourish  in  Ire- 
land, until  by  the  constant  intercourse,  both  peaceable 
and  warlike,  with  the  Danes,  and  by  their  employment  as 
mercenaries  of  those  barbarians  in  local  feuds,  the  Irish 
had  become  familiar  with  rapine  and  all  turbulent  crimes, 
and  a  national  degeneracy  had  been  thereby  produced, 
which  continued  increasing  up  to  the  time  of  the  English 
invasion.  Then  it  may,  without  disparagement  to  our 
country,  be  admitted  that  the  Irish  were  matched  against 
a  people  possessing,  at  that  time,  superior  civilization, 
greater  resources,  and  a  more  compact  and  better  system 
of  government.  A  nation  governed  by  innumerable 
princes  and  chiefs,  had  to  meet  in  battle  and  to  struggle 
with,  in  policy,  a  country  having  but  one  center  of  power, 
one  head,  one  recognized  source  of  government.  It  is 
no  shame  that  with  such  unequal  odds  they  were  worsted 
in  the  long  contest  of  ages,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  national 
pride  that  so  noble  and  unceasing  a  resistance  was  made, 
with  such  discordant  materials. 

SOCIAL  CONDITION  OP  THE  TWO  RACES  COMPARED. 

But  much   as  Ireland  had  degenerated  since  the  Eng- 


80  THE   DETERIORATION   OF   THE   IRISH. 

lish  invasion,  she  still  enjoyed  at  the  accession  of  James, 
a  great  degree  of  civilization,  when  compared  with  other 
countries  at  the  same  period.  Under  the  rule  of  her  na- 
tive chieftains,  religion  had  been  protected  and  'the 
country  was  covered  with  the  noblest  architectural  monu- 
ments of  princely  piety,  many  of  which  subsequently, 
she  was  stripped  of,  by  the  sacnligeous  fury  of  the  English. 
Laws  had  been  propounded  with  solemn  sanctions,  laws 
repugnant  to  later  notions  and  to  the  refinements  of  mod- 
ern ages,  but  suited  to  the  wants,  the  genius,  and  the  feel- 
ings of  the  people.  Among  the  chieftains  had  been,  and 
still  were  many  of  high  accomplishments,  courtesy,  and 
valour.  The  Scotic  Chronicle  of  Ferdun  supplies  us 
with  a  letter  written  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III,  by  Don- 
ald O'Neill,  king  of  Ulster,  and,  as  he  proudly  says  "right- 
ful heir  to  the  monarchy  of  all  Ireland,"  and  addressed  to 
the  Pope  John  XXII,  and  a  more  impressive  and  elo- 
quent document  will  scarcely  be  found  in  the  pages  of 
history,  indicating  a  degree  of  high  and  refined  feel- 
ing that  could  not  be  surpassed,  if  it  could  be  equaled, 
in  the  court  of  Edward.  It  is  a  history  of  English  rule  in 
Ireland  from  the  beginning,  told  with  grave  and  earnest 
simplicity,  but  in  language  the  most  eloquent  and  grace- 
ful. There  is  little  evidence  in  it  of  that  perennial  bar- 
barism which  Hume  attributes  to  the  chiefs  and  people 
of  Ireland. 

The  deteriorations  which  took  place  has  been  attributed 
to  many  causes,  but  however  that  degeneracy  was  pro- 
duced, it  was  signally  accelerated  by  the  arrival  of  the 
anglo  Normans.  They  came  like  "  ravening  wolves  and 
more  cunning  than  foxes;"  they  drove  the  inhabitants 
from  their  houses  and  their  lands,  "to  seek  shelter  like 
wild  beasts  in  the  woods,  marshes,  and  caves;  "  they 
sought  out  the  miserable  natives  even  in  those  dreary 
shades;  they  seized  on  the  noble  endowments  of  the 
church,  and  destroyed  the  buildings  devoted  to  piety  and 
education.  O'Neill  pathetically  laments  that  by  the  in- 
tercourse of  the  Irish  with  the  English,  his  countrymen 
had  lost  the  fine  features  of  the  national  character,  "  for," 
he  says  in  his  letter  to  the  Pope,  "  instead  of  being  like 


COMPARISON   OF   THE    ENGLISH   AND   IRISH   KACES.     81 

our  ancestors,  simple  and  candid,  we  have  become  as  art- 
ful and  designing  as  themselves.  " 

It  must  be  confessed  that  the  residences  of  the  Irish, 
contrasting  strangely  with  the  splendor  of  their  ecclesi- 
astical architecture,  were  in  most  instances  mean  and 
temporary,  and  suited  only  for  a  loose,  pastoral  people. 
They  were  slight  and  composed  of  hurdles.  But  this 
is  not  to  be  taken  to  support  the  charges  of  barbarism 
against  the  nation,  which  are  completely  belied  by  the 
course  of  education,  in  the  management  of  cattle,  in  hus- 
bandry, in  navigation,  and  in  letters,  which  were  admin- 
istered to  their  youth,  the  early  commercial  dealings  with 
foreign  nations,  and  the  long  possession  of  letters.  But 
the  social  habits  in  almost  every  country  in  Europe  were 
of  a  low  nature,  and  their  standard  of  social  comfort  was 
mean.  Great  contrasts — noble  castles,  splendid  edifices 
of  piety,  looking  down  upon  mean  structures  of  hurdles — 
were  not  unusual  in  England  at  the  time  of  the  first 
Anglo-Saxon  monarchs. 

Hume  sums  up 

THE    CHARACTER    OF   THE    ANGLO-SAXON    RACE 

and  doubtless  they  were  not  much  ameliorated  at  the 
time  of  Henry  II,  by  the  Norman  invasion — in  this  man- 
ner: "•  They  were  in  general  a  rude,  uncultivated  people, 
ignorant  of  letters,  unskilled  in  the  mechanic  arts,  un- 
tamed to  submission  under  law  and  government,  addicted 
to  intemperance,  riot  and  disorder.  Their  best  quality 
was  their  military  courage,  which  yet  was  not  supported 
by  discipline  or  conduct.  Their  want  of  fidelity  to  the 
prince,  or  to  any  trust  reposed  in  them,  appears  strongly 
in  the  history  of  their  later  period.  Even  the  Normans, 
notwithstanding  the  low  state  of  the  arts  in  their  own 
country,  characterize  them  as  barbarians  when  they  speak 
of  the  invasion  made  upon  them  by  the  Duke  of  Nor- 
mandy. The  Normans  brought  with  them  their  habits 
and  their  tastes,  and  some  refinement,  which  was,  as 
Hume  says,  slowly  imparted  to  the  Saxons;  and  the  com- 
posite nation,  when  its  adventurers  first  invaded  Ireland, 
had  achieved  a  certain  degree  of  civilization.  Settled 

6 


82  CONFISCATIONS    UNDER   JAMES   I. 

there,  they  made  no  exertion  to  extend  this  to  the  na- 
tives; they  acted  merely  as  needy  adventurers,  seeking 
to  make  easy  fortunes,  and  reckless  of  the  ruin  they 
wrought  in  the  pursuit  of  wealth  and  power.  In  every 
recorded  case,  the  disasters  of  conquest  have  been  fol- 
lowed by  social  amelioration  to  the  conquered  people. 

("I  do  not  insist,"  says  McNevin  in  his  admirable  work, 
"the  Confiscation  of  Ulster,"  from  which  the  materials  of 
this  sketch  have  been  largely  drawn.  "I  do  not  insist 
upon  the  arrangement  that  Ireland  was  never  conquered. 
Yet  it  is  not  possible  for  any  English  historian  to  fix, 
with  certainty,  the  date  of  the  conquest.  It  certainly 
was  nor  in  1172,  not  yet  in  1041.  It  was,  perhaps,  in 
1800.) 

The  Anglo-Norman  invasion  was  an  unrelieved  and 
unatoned-for  calamity  to  the  Irish  people;  the  invasion, 
up  to  the  reign  of  James  I.  never  having  been  completed, 
the  policy  of  division,  and  the  practices  of  petty  and  in- 
cessant warfare,  were  adopted  from  the  first.  Whatever 
superior  civilization  was  enjoyed  by  the  invaders  was  never 
imparted  to  the  invaded  people;  he  gave  nothing  but 
his  vices  to  his  new  country.  Entrenched  within  the 
stinted  boundaries  of  the  Pale,  his  only  security  was  in 
the  weakness  of  his  "  enemy,"  and  this  was  effectually  se- 
cured by  the  divisions  which  the  native  institutions  of 
Tanistry  and  chieftainship  enabled  him  to  create 
amongst  their  numerous  kings  and  princes.  The  social 
amelioration  of  the  Irish  nation  was  never  thought  of  by 
the  English  adventurers  ;  the  country  was  looked  upon 
as  so  many  estates,  and  the  people  as  so  many  enemies. 
The  legislation  of  the  conquerer,  the  most  remarkably 
cruel,  ignorant,  and  selfish  of  any  of  which  there  is  a 
remaining  record,  was  carefully  framed  to  obstruct  the 
improvement  of  the  nation.  Statutes  were  passed  to  prevent 
intermarriages,  and  all  those  other  social  connections, 
fosterage,  gossipred,  etc.,  which  the  humanity  of  Irish 
customs  taught,  and  which  would  have  gradually  led  to 
a  perfect  union  of  the  two  nations.  Laws  were  enacted 
and  enforced  preventing  the  exercise  of  any  of  the  arts 
or  pursuits  of,  peace.  Amongst  others,  Irishmen  could 


CONFISCATIONS   UNDER   JAMES   I.  83 

not  enter  English  towns,  nor  trade  with  the  inhabitants. 
It  was  impossible  for  the  Irish  either  to  improve  their  own 
institutions,  or,  assuming  them  to  be  superior,  to  adopt 
those  of  the  Anglo-Normans.  Their  expulsion  and  ex- 
termination continued  to  be  for  centuries,  the  objects  of 
government,  which  it  sought  to  effect  by  remorseless 
cruelty,  and  by  a  policy  even  more  cruel  and  relentless. 
The  wars  of  the  Pale — the  statute  of  Kilkenny — the 
plantation  of  Munster  and  Ulster,  were  the  very  indica- 
tions of  that  settled  policy.  The  resistance  of  the  Irish 
was  noble  and  continuous,  but  it  was  without  plan,  with- 
out unity,  without  any  principal  of  concert,  and  it 
finally  yielded  to  the  warlike  and  politic  genius  of  Lord 
Mountjoy. 

THE   COMMISSIONERS   AUTHORIZED    BY   JAMES 

in  July  and  August,  1609,  "  to  enquire  of  diverse  things 
contained  in  said  commission  and  articles  of  instruction 
thereunto  annexed,"  were  Sir  Arthur  Chicester,  Lord 
Deputy;  Henry,  Lord  Archbishop  of  Armagh;  George, 
Lord  Bishop  of  Deny;  Sir  Humphry  Winch,  Chief  Jus- 
tice of  the  Common  Pleas;  Sir  Thomas  Ridgway,  Treas- 
urer at  War;  Sir  Oliver  St.  John,  Master  of  the  Ordnance; 
Sir  Oliver  Lambert,  Sir  Garrett  Moore,  Privy  Councillors; 
Sir  John  Davies,  Attorney  General;  William  Parsons, 
Surveyor  General.  A  jury  of  twelve  men  were  duly 
sworn,  and  without  any  unnecessary  delay,  found,  on  the 
several  inquisitions,  that  the  Earl  of  Tyrowen,  the  Earl 
of  Tyrconnell,  Sir  Cahir  O'Doherty  and  others  "did  enter 
into  rebellion,  and  at  the  time  of  the  said  entering  into 
rebellion  were  seized  in  their  demesne,  as  of  fee,  of," 
etc.  Quick  upon  the  finding  of  these  inquisitions,  which 
handed  over  to  the  King  the  ancient  and  princely  inher- 
itances of  the  O'Neills  and  the  O'Donnells,  and  the  coun- 
tries of  the  O'Cahans,  the  Maguires,  the  O'Doghertys, 
the  O'Reillys  and  a  score  of  other  ancient  families — or 
it  may  be  submitted  even  before  the  format  finding.  A 
project  was  submitted  by  the  Privy  Council  in  Ireland,  to 
the  King  and  Council  in  England,  for  the  division  and» 
plantation  of  the  escheated  lands  in  six  several  counties 


84:  PLANTATION   OF   ULSTER. 

in  Ulster,  namely:  Tyrowen,  Coleraine  (now  London- 
derry), Donegal,  Fermanagh,  Armagh  and  Cavan. 

"  Whereas,"  says  a  state  paper  of  the  day,  "  great  scopes 
and  extent  of  land  in  the  several  counties  of  Armagh, 
Tyrowen,  Coleraine,  Donegal,  Fermanagh  and  Cavan, 
within  the  Province  of  Ulster,  are  escheated  and  come  to 
our  hands  by  the  attainder  of  traitors  and  rebels,  and  by 
other  just  and  lawful  titles,  we  have  heretofore  caused 
several  inquisitions  to  be  taken  and  surveys  to  be  made, 
which  being  transmitted  to  us,  we  considered  with  our 
Privy  Council,  attending  our  person,  how  much  it  would 
advance  the  welfare  of  that  kingdom  if  the  said  land  were 
planted  with  colonies  of  civil  men,  and  well  affected  in 
religion"  The  civil  men  were  to  be  English,  and  prin- 
cipally Scotch — those  well  affected  in  religion  were,  of 
course,  to  be  Protestants — the  fulfilment  of  which  condi- 
tions would  lead  to  the  extermination  of  the  native  races 
of  Ireland,  which  was  the  manifest  intention.  In  proof 
of  which,  the  following  conditions  will  amply  prove: 

"  Articles  concerning  the  English  and  Scotch  under- 
takers, who  are  to  plant  their  portions  with  English  and 
inland  Scottish  tenants. 

1.  His  majesty  is  pleased  to  grant  estates  in  fee  farm 
to  them  and  their  heirs. 

2.  They  shall  yearly  yield  unto  his  majesty,  for  every 
proportion  of  one  thousand  acres,  five  pounds  six  shillings 
and  eight  pence  English,  and  so  rateably  for  the  greater 
proportions,  which  is  after  the  rate   of  six  shillings  and 
eight  pence  for  every  three-score  English  acres.      But 
none  of  the  said  undertakers  shall  pay  any  rent  until  the 
expiration  of  the  first  two  years,  except  the  natives  of  Ire- 
land, who  are  not  subject  to  the  charge  of  transportation. 

3.  Every  undertaker  of  so  much  land  as  shall  amount 
to  the  greatest  proportion  of  two  thousand  acres,  or  there- 
abouts, shall  hold  the  same  by  Knight  Service  in  capitej 
and  every  undertaker  of  so  much  land  as  shall  amount  to 
the  middle  proportion  of  fifteen  hundred  acres,  or  there- 
abouts, shall  hold  the  same  by  Knight  Service,  as  of  the 
Castle  of   Dublin;  and  every  undertaker  of  so  much  land 
as  shall   amount  to   the   least  proportion  of  a  thousand 


PLANTATION   OF   ULSTER.  85 

acres,  or  thereabouts,  shall  hold  the  same  in  Common 
Soccage;  and  there  shall  be  no  wardships  upon  the  two 
first  descents  of  that  land.* 

4.  Every  undertaker  of  the  greatest  proportion  of  two 
thousand  acres  shall  within  two  years  after  the  date  of 
his  letters  patent,  build  thereupon  a  Castle  with  a  strong 
court  or  bawn  about  it,  and  every  Undertaker  of  the  sec- 
ond or  middle  proportion  of  fifteen  hundred  acres  shall, 
within  the  same  time,  build  a  stone  or  brick  house  there- 
upon, with  a  strong   court  or  bawn  about  it,  and  every 
Undertaker  of  the  least  proportion  of  a  thousand  acres, 
shall   within  the   same  time,  make   thereupon   a   strong 
court  or  bawn  at  least,  and  all  the  said  Undertakers  shall 
desire  their  tenants  to  build   houses  for  themselves  and 
their  families  near  the  principal  castle,  house  or  bawn,  for 
their  mutual  defense  or  strength.        ***** 

5.  The  said  Undertakers,  their  heirs  and  assigns,  shall 
have  ready  in  their  houses  at  all  times  a  convenient  store 
of  armes,  wherewith  they  may  furnish  a  competent  num- 
ber of  able  men  for  their  defense,  which  may  be  viewed 
and  mustered  every  half  year,  according  to  the  manner 
of  England. 

6.  Every  of  the  said  Undertakers,  English  or  Scotch, 
before  the  ensealing  of  his  letters  patent,  shall  take  the 
oath  of  Supremacy     *     *     *     *     an(j  shall  also  conform 
themselves  in  religion  according  to  his  Majesty's  laws. 

7.  The  said  Undertakers,  their  heirs  and  assigns,  shall 
not   alien  or  demise  their  portions,  or  any  part  thereof, 
to  the  meer  Irish,  or  to  such  persons  as  will  not  take  the 
oath,  and  to  that  end  a  proviso  shall  be  inserted  in  their 
letters  patent. 

*Knight  Service  was  a  military  tenure.  The  Act  of  12th, 
Charles  II,  c.  24,  which  gave  the  coup  de  grace  to  the  feudal  sys- 
tem, extinguished  these  monstrous  rights  of  Knight  Service, 
and  converted  all  such  tenures  into  free  and  common  Soccage. 
Soccage  was  of  two  sorts,  Free  and  Villein.  In  one  the  services 
are  certain  and  honorable,  in  the  other  are  certain  but  of  a 
baser  kind.  Soccage  was  a  Saxon  relique  of  liberty.  The  tenant 
returned  for  his  land  fealty  and  a  certain  rent.  The  services 
that  were  base  are  plowing,  carrying  out  dung,  making  hedges, 
and  other  mean  but  useful  employments.  Blackstone's  Com. 
Vol.  2,  p.  60. 


86  PLANTATION   OF    ULSTER. 

8.  Every  Undertaker   shall,  within  two  years  after  the 
date  of  his  letters  patent,   plant  or  place   a    competent 
number  of  English   or  inland   Scottish  tenants  upon   his 
portion,  in  such  manner  as   the  Commissioner  shall  pre- 
scribe. 

9.  Requires  the  residence  of  the  Undertaker  for  five 
years  from  date  of  letters  patent. 

10.  Stipulates  conditions  as  to  the   aliening  their  por- 
tions during  the  five  years,  but  after  the  said  five  years 
they  shall  be  at  liberty  to  alien  to  all  persons,  except  the 
meer  Irish,  and  such  persons  as  will  not  take  the  oath, 
(meaning  Catholics.) 

11.  Gives  power  to  the   Undertakers  to  erect  manors 
and  hold  Courts  Baron  twice  every  year. 

12.  The  said  Undertakers  shall  not  demise  any  part  of 
their  lands,  at  will  only,  but  shall  make  certain  estates  for 
years,  for  life,  in  tail,  or  in  fee  simple. 

13.  Provides  for  certain  fixed  rents,  and  prohibits  cut- 
tings, cocheries,  and  other  Irish  exactions  upon  their  ten- 
ants. 

14.  Exempts  said  Undertakers  from  paying  any  cus- 
toms or  imports  on  any  commodities  growing  upon  their 
lands. 

The  most  remarkable  of  these  orders  and  conditions 
are  those  which  are  aimed  at  what  the  insolence  of  English 
pride  has  always  termed  "  meer  Irishry."  The  Irish,  in  the 
above  articles,  are  exceptions  to  the  exemption  from  rent 
— on  the  ground  that  they  being  born  to  the  soil,  had  no 
journey  to  make  to  take  possession.  Undertakers,  those 
strange  usurpers,  are  forbidden  to  demise  to  the  "  meer 
Irish,"  or  to  any  tenant  who  will  not  take  the  oath  of 
Supremacy,  which  was  a  practical  exclusion  of  every 
Catholic.  The  King's  tenants  are  allowed  to  alien,  af- 
ter five  years1  possession,  to  any  party  except  a  Catholic 
or  the  "  meer  Irish." 

The  plantation,  though  it  did  not  fulfill  its  origin! 
idea — grand  and  abominable — of  destroying  an  entire 
people,  wrought  some  singular  effects  in  the  history  of 
Ireland,  and  produced  a  strange  influence  on  the  fortunes 
of  those  kingly  robbers  by  whom  it  was  designed.  In 


EXTERMINATION    GENERALLY    COUNSELED.  87 

that  remarkable  colony  which  the  first  Stuart  planted  in 
the  broad  estates  of  Irish  princes,  nobles  and  warriors, 
his  wretched  son  and  grandson  encountered  the  most 
inveterate  hostility.  On  the  banks  of  a  memorable  river 
that  ran  through  the  old  territories  of  Ultonia,  the  last  of 
the  Stuarts,  expiated  his  sins  against  Liberty.  The 
crimes  of  the  father  were  visited  with  usurious  interest 
on  the  head  of  the  son. 

The  leading  principle  of  the  plantation,  and  the  main 
idea  of  its  designers  was  "  the  avoiding  of  the  natives, 
and  the  planting  only  with  British."  Such  a  system 
was  too  vicious  to  endure.  Extermination,  which  Spenser 
counseled,  could  alone  have  enabled  the  plantation  to 
work  well,  by  a  total  removal  of  the  native  owners  of  the 
lands,  but,  without  death  or  banishment,  entire  exclusion 
was  impossible;  they  mingled  with  the  new  population  in 
a  communion  of  hatred  and  ill  will,  and  instead  of  a 
great  nation,  the  fusion  of  many  races,  they  have  pre- 
sented for  centuries  the  appearance  of  rival  factions  re- 
strained, and  that  only  occasionally  by  law,  from 
attempting  mutual  destruction.  By  incessant  war,  and 
by  the  intrigues  of  English  policy,  the  entire  people  of 
Ireland  had  been  reduced  to  the  lowest  scale  of  social 
life — their  lands  were  ravaged,  the  fruits  of  the  earth 
destroyed,  the  villages  of  the  peasants  burned,  the  peas- 
antry themselves  driven  to  the  mountain  fastnesses  and 
the  forests.  The  first  object  was  to  re-people  the  plains, 
to  stud  them  with  permanent  residences,  provided  with 
all  the  necessities  of  civilized  homes;  to  cluster  together 
groups  of  habitation,  where  industrial  association  would 
in  time  produce  commerce  and  create  national  wealth; 
and  the  provision  given  in  the  conditions  for  undertakers 
tended  to  procxire  this  desired  result.  Though  the  direc- 
tions with  regard  to  castles  and  bawns,  were  not  strictly 
complied  with,  yet  villages  and  towns  gradually  arose  in 
the  escheated  counties;  strongly  protected  fortresses  and 
mansions  sprung  up  on  every  side;  houses  of  worship — 
not,  indeed  of  the  prescribed  ancient  faith  of  the  people, 
the  old  inheritance  of  Ulster,  but  of  new  and  hungry 
religionists,  of  discordant  creeds,  and  schools  for  the 


88          HEWERS   OF    WOOD    AND    DRAWEES    OF   WATER. 

education    of    youth,   were    seen    in  most  parts  of  the 
North. 

But  all  these  fair  promises — all  these  castles,  churches, 
schools — all  this  busy  hum  of  industry,  this  trade  and 
manufacture,  were  of  small  avail.  The  exclusion  of  the 
natives  planted  a  germ  of  destruc'ion  in  the  goodly  enter- 
prise. Their  extermination  would  have  been  a  matter  much 
to  have  been  desired  by  English  statesmen  and  Scotch 
adventurers.  But  it  is  not  so  easy  to  exterminate  a  peo- 
ple from  their  native  soil.  A  milder  course  was  adopted; 
life  was  awarded  on  the  conditions  of  ill-paid  labor  and 
oppressive  rents.  The  natives  became  hewers  of  wood 
and  drawers  of  water,  where  they  had  once  owned  the 
soil  and  reaped  for  themselves  its  abundant  fruits.  Hence 
two  elements  were  placed  in  continual  and  angry  op- 
position— ownership  and  usurpation,  embittered  by  diver- 
sity of  language,  creed  and  race.  The  first  fruits  were 
visible  in  the  affair  of  1641,  nor,  though  better  prospects 
now  appear,  have  the  effects  of  the  great  error  of  this 
plantation  altogether  ceased.  There  was  no  true  policy 
but  this — to  exterminate  or  to  consolidate;  neither  was 
adopted,  and  the  result  was  that  the  plantation  proved 
to  be  an  unsuccessful  experiment  of  reformation  without 
any  one  ennobling  act  to  atone  for  its  many  grievous 
wrongs,  oppressions  and  cruelties. 

"  THE  SPIRIT  OF  RELIGIOUS    PERSECUTION," 

says  McGee,  "was  exhibited  not  only  in  the  means  taken 
to  exterminate  the  peasantry,  to  destroy  the  northern 
chiefs,  and  to  intimidate  the  Catholics  of  "The  Pale"  by 
abuse  of  law,  but  by  many  cruel  executions.  The  prior  of 
the  famous  retreat  of  Lough  Dearg  was  one  of  the  victims 
of  this  persecution;  a  priest  of  the  name  of  O'Loughrane, 
who  had  accidentally  sailed  in  the  same  ship  with  the 
Earls  to  France,  was  taken  prisoner  on  his  return, 
hanged  and  quartered.  Conor  O'Deveny,  Bishop  of 
Down  and  Connor,  an  octogenarian,  suffered  martyrdom 
with  heroic  constancy  at  Dublin,  in  1611.  Two  years 
before,  John,  Lord  of  Brittas,  was  executed  in  like  man- 
ner on  a  charge  of  having  participated  in  the  Catholic 


MEETING   OF    PARLIAMENT.    1613.  89 

demonstration  which  took  place  at  Limerick   on  the  ac- 
cession of  King  James. 

Very  unexpectedly  to  the  nation  at  large,  after  a  lapse 
of  twenty-seven  years,  during  which  no  Parliament  had 
been  held,  writs  were  issued  for  the  attendance  of  both 
Houses,  at  Dublin,  on  the  18th  of  May,  1613.  The  work 
of  confiscation  and  plantation  had  gone  on  for  several 
years  without  any  sanction  from  the  legislature.  With 
all  the  efforts  which  had  been  made  to  introduce  civil 
men  into  the  country  well  affected  in  religion,  it  was  cer- 
tain that  the  Catholics  would  return  a  large  majority  of 
the  House  of  Commons,  not  only  from  the  chief  towns, 
but  from  the  fifteen  old  and  seventeen  new  counties, 
lately  created.  To  counterbalance  this  majority,  over 
forty  boroughs,  returning  two  members  each,  were  created, 
by  royal  charter,  in  places  thinly  or  not  at  all  inhabited, 
or  where  towns  were  merely  projected  by  the  undertak- 
ers. At  the  elections,  however,  many  "  recusant  law- 
yers" and  other  Catholic  candidates  were  returned,  so 
that  when  the  day  of  meeting  arrived  one  hundred  and 
one  Catholic  representatives  assembled  at  Dublin.  The 
supporters  of  the  government  claimed  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  votes,  and  six  were  absent,  making  the  whole 
number  232.  The  Upper  House  consisted  of  fifty  peers, 
of  whom  there  were  twenty-five  Protestant  Bishops.  In 
a  contest  for  the  speakership,  the  House  broke  up  in  con- 
fusion, and  the  Lord  Deputy  finding  the  recusants  reso- 
lute, prorogued  the  session.  Both  parties  sent  deputies 
to  England  to  lay  their  complaints  before  the  King.  The 
Catholic  spokesmen,  Talbot  and  Luttrell,  were  received 
with  a  storm  of  reproaches,  and  the  former  committed  to 
the  Tower,  and  the  latter  to  the  Fleet  Prison.  They  were 
shortly  after  released,  and  a  compromise  effected  with  the 
Castle  party.  "  On  the  whole,"  says  McGee,  "  both  for 
the  constitutional  principles  which  they  upheld,  and  the 
religious  proscription  which  they  resisted,  the  recusant 
minority  in  the  Irish  Parliament  of  James  I,  deserve  to 
be  held  in  honor."  Ulster  being  already  parceled  out, 
and  Munster  undergoing  a  similar  manipulation  at  the 
hands  of  the  new  Earl  of  Cork,  there  remained  a  fruit- 


90  THE    "  DISCO VEEEES  "    AT    WORK. 

ful  field  for  a  new  commission  under  Sir  William  Parsons, 
Surveyor-General,  the  midland  counties  and  Connaught. 
Of  these  they  made  the  most  in  the  shortest  possible  space 
of  time.  A  horde  of  clerkly  spies  were  employed  under 
the  name  of  "  Discoverers  "  to  ransack  old  Irish  tenures 
in  the  archives  of  Dublin  and  London,  with  such  good 
success,  that  in  a  very  short  time  66,000  acres  in  Wick- 
low,  and  385,000  in  Leitrim,  Longford,  the  Meaths,  and 
Kings  and  Queens  counties,  "were  found,  by  inquisition, 
to  be  vested  in  the  Crown."  The  means  employed  by 
the  commissioners,  in  some  cases,  to  elicit  such  evidence 
as  they  required,  were  of  the  most  revolting  description. 
In  the  Wicklow  case,  courts-martial  were  held,  before 
which  unwilling  witnesses  were  tried  on  the  charge  of 
treason,  and  several  were  actually  put  to  death.  Archer, 
one  of  the  number,  had  his  flesh  burned  with  red-hot 
iron,  and  was  placed  on  a  gridiron  over  a  charcoal  fire, 
till  he  agreed  to  testify  anything  his  torturers  demanded 
from  him. 

When,  in  1623,  Pope  Gregory  XV,  granted  a  dispensa- 
tion for  the  marriage  of  Prince  Charles  to  the  Infanta  of 
Spain,  James  solemnly  swore  to  a  private  article  of  the 
marriage  treaty,  by  which  he  bound  himself  to  suspend 
the  execution  of  the  Penal  Laws,  to  procure  their  repeal 
in  Parliament,  and  to  grant  a  toleration  of  Catholic  wor- 
ship in  private  houses.  But  the  Spanish  match  was  un- 
expectedly broken  off,  whereupon  Charles  married  Hen- 
rietta, daughter  of  Henry  IV,  king  of  France. 

THE    PLANTATION    OF  JAMES  I 

was  a  blow  aimed  at  the  extermination  of  the  natives  as 
fully  in  intent  as  the  murderous  campaigns  of  Carew  and 
Gray.  It  was  resolved  to  improve  upon  former  planta- 
tions. In  the  past  efforts  to  colonize,  the  Irish  had  either 
been  mixed  with  the  English,  that  thereby  they  might 
acquire  their  habits  of  civility  and  industry,  or  else  they 
were  driven  to  the  woods,  which  at  the  time,  skirted  the 
sides  of  the  mountains  and  stretched  along  the  banks  of 
every  river.  The  fertile  plains  were  seized  upon  by  the 
English  settlers.  But  this  did  not  work  well.  The  Irish, 


PLANTATIONS   IN    ULSTER.  91 

in  the  woods  to  which  they  had  been  driven,  or  in  the  sa- 
cred gloom  of  their  forests,  brooded  over  their  wrongs  and 
planned  sure  and  fearful  vengeance.  They  issued  from 
their  retreats,  destroyed  the  settlements,  burned  the 
towns,  waylaid  the  straggling  parties,  and  covered  the 
face  of  the  country  with  fire  and  blood.  The  holds  of 
Norman  robbery  were  wrapped  in  flames;  their  flocks 
were  driven  from  the  open  pastures  to  the  mountains  and 
the  wood,  their  retainers  were  cut  off  in  detail  by  ever 
watchful  natives;  and  often  above  the  noises  of  their  revel- 
ry were  heard  the  avenging  war-cries  of  Tryconnell  and 
Tyrowen. 

It  was  requisite  to  the  success  of  the  new  plantation, 
that  such  consequences  as  are  described  above,  should  be 
carefully  guarded  against.  It  would  ill  suit  the  grave 
yeoman,  the  thrifty  trader,  and  the  cautious  burgher,  who 
were  to  be  transplanted  from  the  fields  and  towns  of 
Britain,  to  have  such  neighbors  in  the  woods.  It  was 
therefore  prudently  resolved  to  fix  in  the  plains  and  open 
places  the  natives,  whom  the  clemency  of  power  still  per- 
mitted to  enjoy  part  in  the  distribution  of  the  escheated 
lands.  This  was  a  wise  resolution  whether  it  would  be 
politic  to  civilize  or  necessary  to  slay  them.  They  were 
assembled  under  the  eyes  and  fortresses  of  the  new  propri- 
etor, and  from  his  square-built  tower  and  his  fortified 
bawn  or  courtyard,  he  who  had  despoiled  might  watch 
over  and  control  them. 

The  Irish  tillers  of  the  soil  were  admitted,  but  too  lib- 
erally, to  become  tenants  of  the  English  and  Scotch  farm- 
ers, because  they  offered  higher  rents  for  lands,  and  ac- 
cepted smaller  wages  for  labor.  "  The  humane,  and  wise, 
and  enlightened  projects  of  the  king  and  his  counsellors 
were  baffled  by  the  want  of  co-operation  on  the  part  of 
the  inferior  agents  of  confiscation,  and  the  completeness 
of  the  design  was  destroyed  by  the  dangerous  intrusion 
of  the  old  natives." 

The  project  contains  a  statistic  account  of  the  different 
counties,  not,  however,  accurately  setting  down  the  num- 
ber in  acres  in  each,  but  only  enumerating  the  escheated 
lands  available  to  the  purposes  of  the  planters,  and  ex- 


92  PLANTATIONS   IN    ULSTER. 

eluding  unforfeited  and  church  lands,  and  also  excluding 
bogs,  mountains,  woods,  lakes,  and  "other  unprofitable 
scopes." 

That  the  success  of  the  plantation,  this  favorite  project 
of  a  long  line  of  sovereigns,  was,  beyond  doubt,  a  matter 
of  intense  interest  to  the  English  court.  It  so  occurred 
that  the  division  of  the  plunder  and  the  conditions  on 
which  men  held  their  land  were  not  pleasing  to  all.  The 
Scotchman  preferred  the  Irish  tenant  and  the  Irish  laborer 
to  his  own  countryman,  who  was  just  as  clever  and  as 
wise  as  himself — the  English  Undertaker  disliked  the  bur- 
then of  building  a  huge  quadrangular  castle  with  flank- 
ing towers  and  immense  circumambient  wall.  These 
dislikes  begat  much  disobedience  of  the  Rules  and  Or- 
ders; the  castles  and  bawns  were  not  built  as  intended; 
the  planted  ground  became  thickly  peopled  by  the  na- 
tives who  in  the  plains  increased  as  rapidly  as  they  had 
in  the  woods  and  on  the  mountain  side;  they  were  grow- 
ing in  the  midst  of  their  enemies  a  strange  and  alarm- 
ing presence.  It  was  a  just  vengeance  of  nature  upon 
these  despoilers  thus  to  increase  the  number  of  the  Irish, 
but  a  cause  of  great  perplexity  and  alarm  to  the  English 
court.  Commissions  and  superintendents  were  appointed, 
inquiries  were  directed,  and  reports  made;  the  inveterate 
evil  increased,  the  whole  great  plan  promised  arrant  fail- 
ure; the  fate  of  the  Munster  planters  was  remembered, 
and  the  doom  of  that  great  settlement  was  predicted  for 
the  Ulster  plantation. 

"Amongst  the  number  of  inquirers  who  visited  Ul- 
ster," continues  MacNevin,  "  to  point  out  the  evils  and  to 
specify  remedies,  was  Nicholas  Pynnar,  and  fortunately 
for  the  history  of  the  Plantation  and  for  a  better  compre- 
hension of  the  habits  and  social  arrangements  of  the  day, 
his  report  has  fully  survived  for  our  great  edification. 
He  was  preceded  by  others  who  have  left  us  no  memorials 
or  valueless  ones  of  their  labors,  and  it  is  from  him  that 
we  are  principally  to  learn  the  prospects  of  the  Planta- 
tion at  a  period  when  it  had  a  fair  trial.  He  prosecuted 
his  enquiry  during  four  months  at  the  latter  end  of  1618 
and  beginning  of  1619.  Not  so  garrulous  as  Sir  John 


PLANTATIONS   IN    ULSTER.  93 

Davies,  he  has  told  us  nothing  of  the  manner  in  which  he 
executed  his  "  survey."  Neither  is  the  survey  itself  very 
full  or  explanatory,  but  contains  notices  of  men  and  things 
which  are  pleasufably  quaint,  and  his  brief  sketches  of 
the  dwellings  and  habits  of  those  who  occupied  the 
planted  ground,  are  illustrative  and  informing.  I  have 
arranged  this  survey  in  an  intelligible  form,  and  have  at- 
tached notes  containing  much  of  what  Pynnar  saw  during 
his  inquiry.  I  have  from  the  Inquisition  Book  and  the 
Patent  Rolls  of  James  and  Charles,  added  the  names  of 
the  attainted  parties  and  the  original  patentees  to  his  list 
of  the  occupiers  in  1619,  so  that  in  one  view  the  reader  is 
presented  with  the  history  of  the  Plantation  and  the  Order 
established  in  Ulster  by  this  remarkable  revolution.  In 
many  instances  these  records  gave  but  meagre  information. 
If  we  had  a  government  in  Ireland,  all  these  public  docu- 
ments would  be  arranged,  edited  and  illustrated  with  notes. 
But  they  are  not  agreeable  learning  for  Englishmen.  As 
for  Pynnar  he  never  mentions  any  of  the  former  posses- 
sors; he  is  as  silent  on  the  subject  as  if  an  O'Neill  had 
never  caroused  in  the  castle  of  Dungannon,  or  an  O'Don- 
nell  fought  on  the  plains  of  Donegal. 

The  changes  of  proprietorship  are  very  numerous,  the 
original  patentees  having  in  a  majority  of  instances  either 
parted  with  their  interest  entirely,  or  let  to  tenants  with 
very  long  leases.  No  doubt  these  patentees — soldiers  of 
fortune,  captains,  cutters  and  stabbers,  dowagers  and  join- 
tresses and  demireps  of  the  court — merely  grasped  the 
lands  of  Ulster  to  make  a  good  traffic  by  their  sale;  hence 
we  shall  find  in  the  following  list  repeated  transference  of 
the  denominations  from  one  to  another,  and  a  varying  pro- 
prietorship which  must  have  been  very  fatal  to  the  quick 
success  of  the  Plantation.  There  is  another  set  of  circum- 
stances on  which  I  regret  not  to  have  been  able  to  throw 
any  light.  There  are  some  Irish  secondary  chiefs  who  were 
attainted,  but  on  submission  restored,  and  others  who  got 
back  their  own  lands  for  a  valuable  consideration  of  base 
treachery  towards  their  fellows;  and  I  am  not  able,  from 
the  materials  I  had,  to  discriminate  between  these  with 
sufficient  accuracy.  The  historic  interest  of  the  Planta- 


94  PLANTATION   OF    ULSTEB. 

tion  ceases  at  the  time  of  Pynnar's  survey;  a  new  order 
of  things  was  then  established,  and  a  new  proprietary; 
new  relations  sprung  up  which  produced  their  effect  in 
the  subsequent  war  of  1641,  and  continued  even  to  the 
present  day. 

The  following  table,  which  yet  I  must  acknowledge  is 
still  very  imperfect,  is  compiled  from  Pynnar's  survey, 
the  book  of  Inquisitions  in  the  reigns  of  James  I  and 
Charles  I,  from  the  Patent  Rolls  in  the  same  reigns,  com- 
piled in  barbarous  Latin  and  entirely  unindexed — and 
from  other  obscure  and  most  unattractive  sources": 

THE  PLANTATION  OF  ULSTER. 

Being  a  Survey  in  the  years  1618  and  1619  of  the  Lands  and  Settlements  on  the  Lands 
escheated. 

I. — COUNTY  CAVAN — o'RETLLY's  COUNTRY, 

(Formerly  called  BREFNI  O'REILLY.) 
1. — The  Precinct  of  Clanchie,  allotted  to  Scotch  Undertakers. 


Denominations. 

Attainted  Pro- 
prietors. 

Original  Pat-            Parties  in  Posses- 
entees.                          sion  1619. 

ACRES. 

Philip   O'Reilley's 

1  Castle  An-] 

lands  escheated  un- 

1 

11  ] 

bignie 
2  Keneth        | 

3.000 

der   Elizabeth,  but 
were   re-granted   in 

2 

Lord  Anbignie   2   P[onJaS-  Hamil- 

•J,  Citx-hel         J 

succession  to  his  sons 

3 

3  J 

4  Kilclogan 

1.000 

and  brothers  who  all 

4 

ohn  Hamilton      4  John  Hamilton 

5  Dromuck 

1,000 

fell  in  arms  for  their 

5  William  Hamilton 

6  Tauregie 

1,000 

country.      The   last 

6  William  Bealie 



attaint  took  place  in 

Total, 

6,000 

James's  reign,   and 

the  lands   went    as 

herein  set  down  in 

the  Plantation. 

2. — The  Precinct  of  Castlerachan  or  Castlerahan,  allotted  to  Serv- 
itors and  Natives. 


Denominations. 

Attainted  Pro-             Original  Pat-            Parties  in  POSSCB- 
prietors.                          entees.                         sion  1619. 

AC 

RES. 

1  Mullagh 

1,000 

1  Sir  William           n 
Taaffe                     >  Sir  Thomas  Ashe 

2  Carvyn 

1,000 

2  Sir  Edmund  Phet-2) 

The  O'Reillys.             tilace 

3  Murmode 

500 

3  Lieutenant  Garth 

4  Loughram- 

4  Captain  Ridgeway4  Captain  Culme 

nmr, 

1,000 

ft  Miickon 

41)0 

ft'Sir  John  Elliot,  knt. 

6  

90U 

6  Shane  Mac  Philip  6  Slmne  Mac  Philip 

• 

O'Reilly.                    O'Reilly 

Total. 


PLANTATION   OF   ULSTER. 


95 


3. — The  Precinct  of  Tallaghgarry,  allotted  to  Scotch  Servitors. 


Denominations. 

Attainted  Pro-               Original  Pat-            Parties  in  Posses 
prietors.                           entees.                       sion  1619. 

ACBF.8. 

1  Tullavin          1,500 

1  CaptH.  Culme       1  Captain  Hugh 

Culme  and  Archi- 

bald Moore,  Esq. 

2  Drnmsheel        750 

2  Sir  ThomasAshe    2  Sir  Thomas  Ashe 

and  John  Ashe 

3  Itterryoutra    1,800 

3  Mulmorie  Mac  P.  3  Mulmorie  Mac  P. 

O'Reilly                       O'Reilly 

4  Liscannor       1.000 

The  O'Eeillys.        4  Captain  Rpilly       4  Captain  Reilly 

r>  3,000 

5  Mulmorie  Mac  P.  5  Mulmorie  Mac  P. 

O'Reillv                         O'Reilly 

6  Itterrery         2,000 

6  Capt.  R.  Tyrrell     6  Capt.  Richard  Tyr- 

rell  and   William 

Tyrrell 

7  Liscurcron       3,000 

7  Maurice  Mac  Tel-  7  Maurice  Mac  Tcl- 

ligh                            ligh 

Total,           12,250 

4.  —  The  Precinct 

of  Loghtee,  allotted  to  English   Undertakers. 

Denominations. 

Attainted  Pro-               Original  Pat-           Parties  in  Posses- 
prietors.                           entees.                      sion  1619. 

ACRES. 

1  Asrhieduff        1,5W) 

1  John  Taylor 

21  Dromliill         ,„,,,, 

21  SirR.  Waldron,  2  1  Thomas  Wal- 

2/Dromein         2'°°° 

3j     knight                    j     dron 

4  Dromany         2,000 

4  John  Fishe 

a  Monaghan       1,500 

5  Sir  Hugh  Warrall, 

knight. 

Pynaaj  says  it  is 

now   in    Mr.    Ad- 

wick's   hands, 

though   Sir  Hugh 

The  O'Reillya.                                             hath   it;    but  Py- 

naar  is  very  dull. 

6  Clonose            2,000 

6  Sir   Stephen  But- 

ler, knt. 

For  the  town 

of   Belturb- 

et      there 

were    allot- 

ted                  3R4 

7  Lisreagh         2,000 

7  Retnald  Home       7.  Sir  Geo.  Mannc- 

rynge,  kut.  j 

8.  Tonagh           1,500 

8  William  Snow        8  Peter  Aineaa 

Total,          12.8#4 

5. — The  Precinct  of  Clonemahotcn,  allotted  to  Servitors  and  Natives. 


Denominations. 


Attainted  Proprio-     Origin1!  Patentees.    Parties  in  possession 
tors.  1619. 


1  Carig 

2  Tullacullen 


5  Commet 

6  Wateragh 


Total, 


1,000 
1.000 


500 

2,000 


6.SUO 


1  Lord  Lambert        1  Lord  Lambert. 

2  Capt.  Lyons;  Jos.    2       Ditto. 

Jones 

The  O'Reillys.        3  Lieut.  Atkinson;    3  Archibald  Moore 
Lieut.  Riissell 

4  Capt.  Fleming        4  Captain  Fleming 

5  Mul   Mac  Hugh      5  Mill.  Mac  Hugh 

O'Reilly 


B  Philip  Mac 
TilroKU 


O'Reilly. 
6  Philip  Mac  Tirlogh 


yb  PLANTATION    OF    ULSTER. 

6. — The  Precinct  of  Tullaghconcho  allotted  to  Scotch  Undertakers. 

Denominations.         AttaintedProprie- Original  Patent- PartjesHn^posses- 

AORF.S. 

1  Carotobber  \    0  -v^  1  \  Sir  Alexander       1  \  Jane,    widow    to 

2  Clontine      J    -lm  2j     Hamilton  2J  Claude  Hamilton 

3  Clomy  1,000  3  Sir  Claude  Ham-    3  The  aforesaid  Jane 

The  O'Reillys.  ikon  Claude's  widow 

4  Drumhe-  ")  .  ")  Alexander  and    4\Sir  James  Craig. 

dagh        V     2,000  I   V    Jolin  Augh-      6j      knight. 

5  Kelagh      )  °  )     mootie 

6  Carrowndown-  6  John  Browue         6  Archibald  Acheson 

an  1,000 

Total,  6,000 

7. —  The  Precinct  of  Tallaghehagh,  allotted  to  Servitors  and 
Natives. 


Denominations. 

Attainted  Proprie- 
tors. 

Original  Paten- 
tees. 

Parties  in  Posses- 
sion 1619. 

ACRES. 

1  Ballyconnell  1,500 
2                           2,000 

3  Larga             1.000 
4                          1.000 

The  O'Reillys. 

1  Captain  Culme 
2  Sir  R.  Crimea 

3  William  Parsons 
4  One  Maguaran  "a 
native" 

1  Captain  Culme  and 
Walter  Talbot 
2  Sir    Richard    and 
Sir  Gt-o.  Grimes, 
knights 
3  William  Parsons 
4  Maguaran 

Total,  5,."00 


THE  COUNTY  OP  FERMANAGH — MAC  GUIRE's  COUNTRY. 

1. — The  Precinct  of  Knockninny,  allotted  to  Scotch  Undertakers. 

Attainted  Pro-             Original  Pat-            Parties  in  Posses 
unations. prietors. entees. sion  in  1619. 

ACKE8. 

1  Carowshee,  or 3,000       Hugo  Mac  Guire,    1  Lord  Burleigh       1  Sir  Jamns  Belford, 

Belford,  i.e.,  son  of  Coconnaueht  knight, 

this  denomi-  Mac  Guire,  was  the 

nation     and  Lord  of  Fermanagh, 

some   others,  and  was  killed  in  re- 

"In  a  remote  bellion  against  Eliz- 

place  and  out  abeth.     His    estates 

of    all    good  form  the  subject  of 

way."  these  grants. 
t  Aghalane         1,000       The    secondary    2  Lady  Kinkelt         2  Mr  Adwirk 

3  Pristernan       1.000  chiefs  were  the  Mac    3  James  Traile  3  MrAdwk-k 

4  Kilspenan        1.500  Gillan  nnans,  Mac    4  Lord  Mountwha-    4  Sir   Stephen    But- 

Manuses,    and     the          nv  ler,  kni^ut 

5  Leytrim  1,500    O'Flanugans,  etc.         6  Sir  John  \\hinher    ft  Ditto 
r>  Derryanye       1,000  6  George  Suiel-         6  Ditto 

homo 
Total,  9,000 


PLANTATION    OF   ULSTER. 


97 


2. — TJte  Precinct  of  Clancalli/  or  Clankellie,  allotted  to  English 
Undertakers. 


Denominations. 

Attainted  Proprie- 
tors. 

Original    Paten-       Parties  in  Posses- 
teee.                          sion  1619. 

ACRES. 

1  Latgar              1,<XIO 
2  Lisrisk              1,000 

3  Clancarne        1,000 

4  Ardmagh         1,000 
5  Gutgoouan      1,000 
5,000 

The  Mac  Guires. 

1  John  Sedborrow    1  John  Sedborrow 
2  Thomas  Flower-    2  Thomas  Flower- 
dew                             dew 
3  Kotert  Boges.  of  3  Edward  Hatton 
Brnhaiii.in  Bran- 
chain,    County    of 
Suffolk 
4  Thomas   Plom-     4  Sir  Hugh  WorralK 
ptead                            knight 
6  Robert  Calvert        5  George  Kidgeway 

3.—  The  Precinct 

of  CUnaivley,  allotted  to  Servitors  and  Natives. 

Denominations. 

Attainted  Pro- 
prietors. 

Original  Pat-            Parties  in  Posses 
entees.                      fion  1619. 

ACRES. 

1  Liseoweley      l,(:tiO 
2  Gurtiu                600 

3  Moycrane           300 
Total,            2,300 

The  Mac  Guires. 

1  Sir  John  Davies     1  Sir  John  Davies 
2  Captain  Harrison  2  Mrs.    Harrison 
widow  of  Captain 
Harrison 
3  Peter  Moystion     3  Peter  Moystiou 

4. — Precinct  of  Large  and  Coolemackernan,  allotted  to  English 
Undertakers. 


Denominations. 

ACRES. 

Attainted  Pro-               Original  Pat-           Parties  in  Possea- 
prietors.                           entees.                       sion  1619. 

1  Drumynshiu 

1,000 

1  Thomas  Barton      2  \  Sir  Gerard  Low- 

2  Neciirne 

1  ,000 

2  Harrington  Suttonl  /     ther,  knt. 

3  Tullaua 

1,000 

3  John  Archdale,      3  John  Archdale, 

Esq.                               Esq. 

4  Roseguire 

1,000 

4  Thomas  Flower-    4  Thomas  Flower- 

dew                               dew 

5  Dowrosse 

1,000 

The  Mac  Guires.      5  Henry  Hunings     5  Edw.  Sibthorp  and 

Henry   Flowers. 

6  Edernngh 

1,500 

6  Thomas  Blenner-  6  Thomas  Blenner- 

hassett                          hassett 

7  Talmackein 

1,000 

7  John  Thurston      7  Sir  E.  &  T.  Blen- 

nerhassett 

8  Bannagh- 

8  Sir  Edw.  Blenner-  8  Francis,  son  to  Sir 

more 

1,500 

liassett                      Edward    Blenner- 

. 

hassett 

Total, 

9.000 

98 


PLANTATION   OF   ULSTER. 


5. — Precinct  of  Coole,  and  Terkennada,  allotted  to  Servitors  and 


Denominations. 

Attainted  Pro-               Original  Pat-            Parties  in  Posses- 
prietors.                          entees.                       sion  1619. 

ACRFS. 

1  Cornegrade      l.ron 

1  Rodolphus  Gore    1  Sir  William  Cole 

2  Newporton      1,500 

2  Sir  Henry  Folliott,2  Sir  Henry    Folli- 

knight,  afterward!       ott,  knight 

Lord  Folliott 

3  Carick              l.UHO 
4  Coole                l.OIX) 

2  Bodolphua  Gore     3  Captain  Paul  Gore 
The  Mac  Guires.      4  Captain  R.  Atkin-  4.  Captain  Roger 

son                                   Atkinson 

5  Clabby             1,500 

5  ('(mi.   Mac  Shane  5  Con   Mac  Shane 

O'Xei  11.  (Patent         O'Neill 

Roll.  23  Clias.  I.) 

6  Tempodessell  2.000 

6  Brian  Maguire       6  Brian  Maguire 

J-.OIKI 

6.  —  The  Precinct 

of  Machirobot/,  allotted  to  Scotch  Undertakers. 

Denominations. 

Attainted  Proprie-       Original    Paten-     Parties  in  Posses- 
tors,                                tees.                         sion  1619. 

ACRFB. 

1  Dromskeagh   1,000 
2  Derrineio- 

1  Jeremy  Lyndsey    1  Sir  William  Cole 
2  Sir  Robert  Ham-    2  Malcolme  Hamil- 

gher                1,500 

ilton                           •  ton 

3  Drumagh         1,000 

The  Mac  Guires.     3  James  Gill               3  John  Archdale 

4  Promcose        1,000 

4  Alexander               4  George  Humes 

Humes 

ft  Moyglasse       1,500 

6  William  Fuller      5  Sir  John  Humes 

fi  Drumcro         l.ixx) 

C  John  Dnnbar,  Esq. 

7  Carrynroe       2.000 

7  Sir  John  Humes 

THE  COUN,TY  OF  DONEGAL,  OR  TYRCONNELL. 

1. — The  Precincts  of  Boilagh  and  Banagh,  allotted  to  Scottish  Un- 
dertakers. 


Denominations. 

Attainted  Proprie- 
tors. 

Original    Paten- 
tees. 

Parties  in  Posses- 
sion 1619. 

ACRES. 

1  The  Rosses      2,000 

1  Lady  Brombo 

1  Captain      Thomas 

i 

Dutton 

2  Cargie              1,000 

2  Sir  Patrick  Mc- 

2 John  Murray 

Kay 

3  RoilaghOutral.OOf) 

3  Patrick  Vaux 

3  Ditto 

4  Duncounally  l,."pOO 

The     County    of 

4  William  Stewart 

4  John  Murray,  and 

Donegal   belonged 

under    him,    .Is. 

to  the  noble  house 

Toodie  and  oth- 

ot'O'Donnell.   The 

ers,  for  years. 

5  Kilker.xn         1,000 

secondary  chiefs 

5  Alexander  Dun- 

5  John  Murray,  and 

were    O'Doghertjv 

bar 

under     him      to 

Mac  Sweeney   |)oe. 

Richard  Cogwell, 

Mac  Sweeney  Fau- 

for  years 

6  Ballagheitra    1.000 

aid,     O'Gallagber, 

6  Lady  Broushton. 

6  John  Murray 

and  O'Clery. 

In   the    patent 

roll  this  is  giv- 

en   to    George 

Murray      d  e 

Broughton. 

7  Moynagan       1,000 

8T  Alexander     Cnn- 

nniglmm.  under 

John  Murray 

8  Mnllagha- 

James  McCullogh 

vejth              1  ,000 

9,500 


PLANTATION   OF    ULSTER. 


99 


2. — Precinct  of  Portlough  allotted  to  Scotch  Undertakers. 


Denominations.         AttaintedProprie- 

Original    Paten-      Parties  in  Posses- 
tees,                         sion  1619. 

ACRES. 

1  Dunboy            1,000 

1  John     Cunning-    1  John  Cunnigham, 

ham                            gent 

2  Moyegh           1,009 

2  James      Cunning- 

ham, gent 

3  Derastrose  and 

3  Sir  James  Gun-    3  Sir    James      Cun- 

Portlough    2,000 
4  Dromagh, 

ningham                    ningham 
4  "Sir  James  Cun-    4  Cuthbert  Cunning- 

alias  Coole-                The  O'Donnells, 

ningham    must          ham 

mactreene     1,000        O'Dogherties,  etc. 

answer  for  this" 

5  Coolelaghie      1,000 

5  Wm.  Stewart         5  Wm.  Stewart, 

Laird  of  Dunduff 

6  Ballyneagh     1,000 

6  A.  M'Awley            6  Alexander   M'Aw- 

ley.  alias  Stewart 

7  Corgagh           1,000 

7  The  Laird  of           7  The  Laird  of  Lusse 

Lusse 

8  Caphell,  Ketin 

8  Sir  J.  Stewart         8  Sir  John  Stewart, 

and    Litter- 

knight 

gul                 3,000 

9  Lismolmogan  1,008 

9  Ditto                       9  Sir  John  Stewart, 

aforesaid 

Total,          12,000 

3.  —  The  Precinct  of  Liffer,  allotted  to  English  Undertakers. 

Denominations.         AttaintedProprie- 

Original    Paten-     Parties  in  Posses- 
tees,                           sion  1619. 

ACRES. 

1  Shramiekler    1,300 

1  Peter  Benson 

2  Aghagalla       2,000 

2  William     Wilson, 

Esq. 

3  Corlackin        2,000 

3  Thomas  Davis, 

3  Sir  Thomas                  holds  of  his  broth- 

Cornwall                   er  Robert 

4  Killeneguerd- 

4  Captain  Mansfield 

on                  1,000 

5  Acarine           1,500       The  O'Donnells. 

5  Captain  Russell      5  Sir    John    Kings- 

mill,  knight 

6  Tonafecies       2.000 

6  Sir  Robert  Rem-    6  Sir  Ralph  Bingley 

ineton 

7  Dnimmore 

7  Sir  Maurice  Bart-    7       Ditto- 

and  Lurga    2,000 

ley 

8  Lismongan      1,500 

8  Sir  T.  Coach           8  Sir  Thomas  Coach, 

knight 

9  Monaster         1,500 

9  Sir  William             9  Sir  John  Kinsrsmill 

Barua                         and  Mr.  Wilson 

Total,          15,000 

100 


PLANTATION   OF   ULSTER. 


4. — The  Precinct  of  Kilmacrenan,  allotted  to  Servitors  and  Natives. 


Denomination*             ^^^ 

Original  Pat-           Par  tips  in  Posses- 
entees.                       sion  1619. 

ACRES. 

1  Letterkenuy   1,000 

1  Captain  Craiford    1  Sir  George  Mar- 

hruic 

2  Balamally       1,000 

2  Sir  J.  Kirgsmill    2  Sir  John   Kings- 

mill 

3  Gortavaghie    1,000 

3  Sir  W.  Stewart       3  Sir  William  Stew- 

art 

4  Edonearne      1,000 

Sir  B.  Brooke        4  Sir  Basil  Brooke 

5  Eadennell        1,000 

6  Sir  T.  Chichester  5  Sir  Thomas  Chi- 

chester 

6  Oarnegill         1,000 
7  Movris              1,000 

6  Sir  John  Vaughan  6  John  Wray.  Esq. 
7  Arthur  Terrie 

6  Ballenas          1,000 

8  Captain  Henry 

Harte 

9  Ramalton        1.000 

9  Sir  Richard  Han-  9  Sir  William  Stew- 

sard                            art 

10        "                 1,000 

10  Sir  John  Vaushan 

11         "                 1,000 
12  Facker               172     The  O'Donnells. 

11  Captain  Paul  Gore 
12  Lieutenant  Per-   12  Lieutenant  Per- 

kins                           kins 

13  Loughnemnck  400 

13  Lieutenant  Ellia  13  Nathaniel  Row- 

ley 

14  Cranrasse          S23 

14  Lieutenant           14    Ditto 

Browne 

15  Caroreagh          108 
16  Luarguarack     240 

15  \Lifutenant          15  William  Lynn 
16  /     Gale                   16      Ditto 

17  Castledoe           600 

17  Sir  Richard  Bing-17  Captain  Sandford 

ley 

18  Mountmellon  2,000 

18  Sir  Mulmorie        18  Sir  Mulmorie 

Mac  Swyne                 Mao  Swyne 

19  Loanagh  and 

19  Machoyne  Bau-      19  Machoyno  Bau- 

Corragh         2,000 

nagh                                 n;igh 

20  Caroglileagh 

20  Tirlogh  Roe          20  Tirlogh  Roe 

and  Clomas   2,000 

O'Bo'vle                       O'Bovle 

21  Roindoberg 

21  Donnell  Mac         21  Donnell  Mac 

and  Carooc- 

Swyne  Fame             Swyne  Fame 

omony            2,000 

22  Bellycaiiny 

22  Walter  Mac  Lou-  22  Walter  Mac 

and  Ragh         896 

ghliu  Mac  Swyne       Loughlin  Mac 

—  — 

Swyue 

Total,            21,844 

COUNTY  OP  TYROWEN — 0  NEILL's  COUNTRY. 

1. — The  Precinct  of  Strabane,  allotted  to  Scottish  Undertakers. 


Denominations. 


Attainted  Pro- 
prietors. 


Original  Pat- 
entees. 


Parties  in  Posses- 
sion 1619. 


1  Strahane 


ACRF.8. 

1,000 


2  Donnalonge    2,000 

3  Shcan  1,500 

4  Largie,    alias 

Cloghogeual  1,500 

5  Derriewoone  1,000 

6  Eden  and  Kil- 

liny  2,000 

7  Terreinurrear- 

teth   alias 
Mountcrlony  1,500 

8  Newton    and 

Lislappo         2,000 

9  Bull  y  mag h- 

negh  1,000 

Total,          13.500 


The  greatest  por- 
tion of  Tyrowen  be- 
longed to  the  rcicn  - 
ing  family  ofO'Neill, 
whose  chieftain  was 
entitled  to  the  usual 
duties  and  payments 
due  to  the  leader  of 
the  clan  from  the 
whole  of  the  popu- 
lation. The  second- 
ary chiefs  were  the 
Mac  Cawel  Is,  the 
O'Hagans,  the  0'- 
Quins,  the  O'Luneys 
iiud  the  O'  Donnelly  s. 


1  EarlofAhercorne  1  The  Earl  of  Aber- 

corne 

2  Ditto  2  The  aforesaid  Earl 

3  Sir  Thomas  Boyd   3  The  aforesaid  Earl 

4  Sir  G.  Hamilton     4  Sir  George  Hainil- 

ilton 

5  Ditto  5  Sir  George  Hamil- 

ton 

6  Sir  William  Stew-  6  Sir  George  Hamil- 

art  ton 

7  James  Haig  7  Sir   George  afore- 

said, and  Sir  Wil- 
liam Stewart 

8  Sir   Robert    New- 

8  James  Chapman       conion 

9  Sir  John   Drum- 

luond 


PLANTATION   OF    ULSTER. 


101 


2. — The  Precinct  of  the  Omy,  allotted  to  English  Undertakers. 


Denominations. 


Attainted  Pro- 
prietors. 


Original  Pat- 
entees. 


Parties  in  Posses- 
sion in  1619. 


ACBES. 

1  Faugh  and 

Rarone          3,000 

2  Brede  2,000 

3  Fentonagh       2.000 

4  Edergooleand 

Carneura- 
chan  2,030 

6  Gavel  agh 

and  Clonagh- 
more,  alias 
Castle  Dirge 
and  Castle 
Curlew  2,000 


Total,          11,000 


The  O'Neills. 


1  Earl  of  Castleha-    1  The  Countess' join- 

yen  turo 

2  Ditto  2  Earl  Castlehaven 

3  Ditto  3    Ditto 

4  Ditto  4    Ditto 


5  Sir  John  Davies,    5  Sir  John  Davies, 
knt.  knt. 


3. — The  Precinct  of  Clogher,  allotted  to  English  Undertakers. 


Denominations. 

Attainted  Pro-               Original  Pat-         Parties  in  Posses- 
prietors.                          entees.                      sion  1619. 

ACBES. 

1  Portrlare  and 

1  Lord  Bidgeway     1  Lord  Bidgeway 

Ballykillgi- 

rie                  2,000 

2  Thomas  Court  1,000 

2  George  Bidgeway  2  George  Bidgeway, 

3  Moyener   and 

gent. 
3  William  Turvin     3  Sir  Gerrard  Low- 

Ballygalin    1,000 

ther.  knt. 

4  Loughiu  a- 

4  Captain  Edney       4  Lord  Burleigh 

guire             1,500 

The  O'Neills. 

5  Feutonagh      2,000 

6  Sir  Francis  Wil-  5  John  Leigh,  Esq. 

6  Balle  n  e  c  o  1  « 

loughby 
6.Edward  Kinsgmill  6  Sir  William  Stew- 

and  Baller- 

art,  knt. 

ennally         2,000 

7  Derribard        2.000 
8  Balleiieclogh  1,000 

7  Sir  Anthony  Cope  7  Sir  William  Cope 
8  William  Parsons, 

Total,          12,500                                                                                     ^ 

4. — Precinct  of  Mountjoy,  allotted  to  Scotch  Undertakers. 


Denominations. 


Attainted  Pro- 
prietors. 


Original  Pat- 
entees. 


Parties  in  Posses" 
sion  1619. 


ACEES. 

1  O'Carraghan   l.SOO 

2  Bevelinoutra 

and  Eightra  3,500 

3  Tullylegan      1,500 

4  Tullaoge         1,000 

5  Creighballe     1,000 

6  Ballenekenan  1,000 

7  Gortevill         1,000 

Total,         10,800 


1  Sir  Bobert   Hey- 

burne 

2  Lord  Uchiltree 

3  Captain    Saunder- 

son 

The  O'Neills.          4  Bobert  Lindsey      4  Mrs.  Lyndsey .wid- 
ow of  Bobert 
6  Bichard  Lindsey    5  Alexander   Bich- 

ardson 

6  Bobert  Stewart      6  Andrew   Stewart, 
son  of  Lord  Uchil- 
tree 
7  David  Kennedy 


102 


PLANTATION   OF   ULSTER. 


5. — The  Precinct  of  Dungannon,  allotted  to  Servitors  and  Natives. 


Denominations. 


Attainted  Proprie- 
tors. 


Original  Paten- 
tees. 


Parties  in  Posses- 
sion   1619. 


ACKF.S. 

1  Dungannon     1,140 

2  For   Dnngan- 

non  Town       500 

3  Large  2,000 

4  Ballydon- 

nelly  1,000 

5  Manor  Eoe       1,000 

6  Alte  Besert      1,000 


7  Clanagrie 

8  Benburb 


Total, 


•1-0 


2.000 
4,000 


13,120 


The  O'Neills  and 
the  O'Donnellys. 
The  Latter  were  a  dis- 
tinguished liranch  of 
the  Kiuel-Owen  or 
northern  Hy-Niall 
race  of  which  the 
O'Jfeills  were  the 
chiefs,  and  it  was 
by  one  of  thorn  that 
the  celebrated  Shane, 
or  JohnO'Neill.sur- 
named  the  Proud, 
and  also  called  Dou- 
ghailach.  or  the  Don- 
i! el  Hun,  was  fost- 
ered. 


1  Lord  Chichester.    1  Lord     Chichester, 

the  Lord  Deputy         the  Lord  Deputy 

2  Lord  Ridgeway     2  Lord  Ridgeway 

3  Sir  Toby    Caul-    3  Sir  Toby  Caulfleld 

field 

4  Sir  Francis  Roe     4  Sir  Francis  Roe 

5  William  Parsons    5  William  Parsons 

6  Sir  Francis  Aus-    6  Sir  Francis  Ansley 

ley 

7  Marshall     Wing-  7  Marshal     Wing- 

field  field 

8  Tirlough  O'Neill    8  Tirlough  O'Neill 


COUNTY    OP    ARMAGH. 


1. — The  Precinct  of  O'Neilan  allotted  to  English  Undertakers. 


Denominations. 

Attainted  Proprie- 
tors. 

Original    Paten- 
tees. 

Parties  in  Posses- 
sion 161'J. 

ACRES. 

1  Doughcour- 

1  William  Brown- 

1  William  Brown- 

an                   1,500 

low 

low 

2  Ballenemony  1,000 

2  Ditto 

2  Ditto 

3  Keriiau             1,000 

3  Sir  Oliver  St. 

3  Sir  Oliver  St. 

John 

John 

4  Ballnevoran    2,000 

4  William  Powell 

4  Mr.  Obbyns 

6  Derrycravy  \  ,  flftn 
6  Dromully,    /  3'000 

Armagh  belonged 
to  the  0  Neillsofthe 

£}  Lord  Say 

£}  Mr.  Cope 

7  Semore,           1,000 

Fewes,  the  Clan- 

7  Richard  Roul- 

7  Richard  Eoul- 

breasal  O'Neills,  and 

stone 

stone 

8  Aghivillan 

the  O'ilaalous. 

8  Johu  Heron 

8  John  Heron 

andBrochus  2,000 

9  Kannagoolau  1,500 

9  William  Stan- 

9  William  Stan- 

bowe 

bowe 

10  Mullalellish 

10  FrancisSachev- 

10  Francis  Sachev- 

and  Legga- 

erill 

erill 

eory               2,000 

11  Mullbrane     1,500 

11  John  Dillon 

11  Johu  Dillon 

Total,        16,5000 

2. — The  Precinct  of  the  Fewes,  allotted  to  Scotch  Undertakers. 


Denominations. 

Attainted  Proprie- 
tors. 

Original    Paten- 
tees. 

Parties  in  Posses- 
sion itiiy. 

ACRES. 

1  Coolemalish    1,000 
2  Magharien- 
triin,              1.000 
3  Kilruddan       1,000 

4  Edenach  600 
0  Clanearny  2,000 

The  O'Neills,  etc. 

1  Henry  Acheson 
2  James  Craig 

3  William   Law- 
ders 
4  John  Hamilton 
6  Sir  James  Dow- 
glaw 

1  Henry  Acheron 
2  John  Hamilton, 
Esq. 
3  Ditto 

4  Ditto 
5  Archibald  Ache- 
son 

Total. 


5,500 


POLICY    OF   JAMES    CONTINUED    BY   CHARLES.         103 
3. — The  Precinct   of  Orior,  allotted  to  Semitors  and  Natives. 


Denominations. 

Attainted  Proprie-       Original   Paten- 
tors,                              tees. 

Parties  in  Posses- 
sion 1619. 

\ 

.(.!;!•>. 

1  Cornechino 

500 

1  Sir  John  Davies, 

1  Sir  John  Davies, 

knt. 

knight 

2  Ballemoore 

1,500 

2t^ir  Oliver  St. 

2  Sir  Oliver  St. 

John 

John 

3  Ballemone- 

3  Lord  Moire 

3  Lord  Moire 

han 

i.ono 

4  Claire 

2.00U 

The  O'Neills,  etc.     4  HenryBourchier 

4  Henry   Bonrchier, 

afterwards    Earl 

of  Bath 

5 

1,000 

5  Capt.  Anthony 

5  Captain     Anthony 

Smith 

Smith 

6  Curiator 

2(0 

6  Lieutenant 

6  Lieutenant  Pos'ns 

Poyns 

7  Camlogh 

1,000 

7  Henry  M'Shane 

7  Sir  Toby  Caulfield 

O'Neill 

Total, 

7,200 

The  policy  inaugurated  by 

JAMES  WAS  CONTINUED  UNDER  CHARLES  I. 

Wentworth,  the  Irish  Lord  Lieutenant,  continued  the 
commission  as  to  defective  titles  in  Connaught.  Charles, 
not  receiving  grants  from  the  English  parliament,  hit  upon 
this  happy  plan  of  fleecing  the  Irish.  Little  resistance 
was  encountered.  Sir  Lucas  Dillon,  the  ancestor  of  the 
present  Viscount  Dillon,  who  has  recently  acted  with  such 
savage  cruelty  towards  his  tenantry  in  Mayo,  was  foreman 
of  the  ]ury  or  commission,  and  was  commended  by  Went- 
worth for  his  judicious  findings,  and  amply  rewarded  out 
of  the  confiscated  lands.  Little  resistance  was  made  un- 
til Galway  was  reached,  and  then  the  honest  Wentworth 
became  indignantly  virtuous,  but  graver  matters  demand- 
ed his  attention  about  this  time.  The  parliament  was  in 

REVOLT  AGAINST  CHARLES;  AND  THE  SCOTCH  COVENANTERS 

came  to  his  assistance,  much  to  the  dismay  of  Charles. 
Now  surely  was  a  splendid  opportunity  for  the  Irish 
chiefs  and  people,  and  they  determined  to  avail  them- 
selves of  it.  Communications  were  established  between 
the  exiled  Irish  officers.  A  fund  was  contributed  by  them 
from  their  scanty  pay,  and  envoys  were  sent  to  sound  the 
confederates  in  Ireland.  Roger  O'More  of  Leix,  an  Irish 
gentleman,  seems  to  have  been  the  leading  spirit  at  home, 


104:  THE   INSURRECTION   OF    1641. 

while  John,  son  of  Hugh  O'Neill,  and  titular  Earl  of  Ty- 
rone, was  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  Irish  in  Europe. 
On  the  latter's  death  he  was  succeeded  by  Col.  Owen 
(Roe)  O'Neill,  an  officer  of  the  Spanish  army.  The  prin- 
cipal abettors  of  O'More  in  Ireland  were  Maguire,  Lord 
of  Fermanagh;  Heber  McMahon,  Vicar  of  Clogher;  Sir 
Phelim  O'Neill,  Sir  Connor  Magennis  and  Hugh  Oge  Mc- 
Mahon. 

The  time  of  the  rising  was  fixed  for  the  23d  of  Octo- 
ber, 1641,  and  the  plan  of  campaign  agreed  upon  was  to 
seize  on  all  fortresses  within  reach  of  the  friends  of  the 
confederation;  also  the  castle  of  Dublin,  which  at  that 
time  contained  arms  for  12,000  men.  "All  the  details 
of  the  project,"  says  McGee,  "  were  carried  into  effect, 
except  the  seizure  of  Dublin  Castle,  the  most  difficult,  as 
it  would  have  been  the  most  decisive  blow  to  strike." 
The  government  of  England  was  completely  baffled  "In 
one  night,"  says  A.  M.  Sullivan;  "the  people  swept  out 
of  sight,  if  not  from  existence,  every  vestige  of  English 
rule  throughout  three  provinces.  The  forts  of  Charle- 
rnont  and  Mountjoy,  and  the  town  of  Dungannon  were 
seized  on  the  night  of  the  22nd  by  Phelim  O'Neill,  or 
his  lieutenants.  On  the  next  day,  Sir  Connor  Magennis 
took  Newry;  the  McMahons  possessed  the  towns  of 
Carrick-ma-cross  and  Castle  Blayney;  the  O'Hanlons, 
Tanderagee,  while  Roger  Maguire  and  Philip  O'Reilly 
raised  Cavan  and  Fermanagh."  Charles  Gavan  Duffy,  in 
the  most  powerful  ballad  which  he  has  written,  thus 
expresses  the  feelings  of  the  Irish  nation  after  the 
triumph  of  1641: 

"Joy!  joy!  the  day  has  come  at  last,  the  day  of  hope  and  pride, 
And  see!  our  crackling  bonfires  light  old  Bann's  rejoicing  tide, 
And  gladsome  bell  and  bugle,  from  Newry's  captured  towers; 
Hark!  how  they  tell  the  Saxon  swine  the  land  is  ours — is  OURS. 

"Glory  to  God,  my  eyes  have  seen  the  ransomed  fields  of  Down, 
My  ears  have  drunk  that  cry,  stout  Phelim  hath  his  own. 
Oh!  may  they  see  and  hear  no  more;  oh!  may  they  rot  to  clay 
When  they  forget  the  triumph  in  the  conquest  of  to-day. 

"Now,  now,  we'll  teach  the  shameless  Scot  to  purge  his  thievish 
maw; 


THE   INSURRECTION   OF    1641.  105 

Now,  now,  the  courts  must  fall  to  prey  for  justice  is  the  law; 
Now.  shall  the  undertaker  square  for  once  his  loose  accounts, 
We'll  strike,  brave  boys,  a  fair  result  from  all  his  false  amouats. 

"Come,  trample  down  their  robber  rule,and  smite  their  venal  spawn- 
Their  foreign  laws,  their  foreign  church,  their  ermine  and  their 

lawn, 
With  all  the  specious  fry  of  foreign  fraud  that  robbed  us  of  our 

own, 
And  plant  our  ancient  standard  once  again  beside  our  lineal  throne." 

The  failure  to  seize  Dublin  Castle  was  owing  to  the 
traitorous  conduct  of  one  Conolly,  the  only  Irish  traitor  of 
1641,  and  the  ancestor  of  the  Conolly's  of  Donegal. 
Col.  McMahon,  to  whom  the  task  of  seizing  the  castle 
was  entrusted,  was  captured  in  his  lodgings  the  night  of 
the  "  rising,"  as  was  Lord  Maguire,  but  O'More,  and 
Plunkett  and  the  other  confederates  escaped. 

The  charges  of  cruelty  brought  against  the  Irish  of 
that  period,  bears  a  striking  resemblance  to  the  Irish  out- 
rages manufactured  by  the  English  press  at  the  present 
time.  There  is  no  foundation  for  the  accusations.  The 
reply  of  Sir  Connor  Magennis  to  the  English  officers  at 
Down  indicates  pretty  thoroughly  the  spirit  of  the  Irish. 
"  We  are  "  he  said  '•'•fighting  for  our  lives  and  liberties. 
We  desire  no  blood  to  be  shed;  but  if  you  mean  to  shed 
our  blood,  be  sure  that  ice  are  as  ready  as  you  for  that 
purpose"  The  facts  are  that  the  English  soldiery  prac- 
ticed all  kinds  of  barbarities  upon  the  native  Irish  whom 
they  made  prisoners,  and  being  unable  to  hold  their  own 
in,  or  at  last  to  penetrate  into  Ulster,  Munster,  or 
Connaught,  they  wreaked  vengeance  on  the  Anglo-Catho- 
lics of  the  Pale.  The  noblemen  and  gentry  protested  to 
no  purpose;  their  loyalty  was  unquestioned,  but  it  prob- 
ably arose  from  cowardice.  The  revolt  was  hitherto  con- 
fined to  the  Celtic  portion  of  the  people.  The  Saxons  of 
the  Pale  had  no  more  sympathy  with  Celtic  Catholics 
than  the  English  Catholics  of  the  present  day  have  with 
the  Irish  Catholics.  Duffy,  from  whom  we  have  already 
quoted,  shows  how  little  the  Irish  trusted  the  Barnwells, 
the  Trimlestons,  and  the  other  loyal  gentlemen  of  the  Pale. 


106  THE   INSURRECTION   OF    1641. 

"Let  Silken  Hpwth  and  savage 
Slave  still  kiss  the  tyrant's  rod, 

And  Pale  Dunsany  still  prefer 
His  master  to  his  God." 

"Natheless  their  creed  they  hate  us  still,"  but  events 
made  the  gentlemen  of  the  Pale  unite  with  the  Irish. 
The  puritan  soldiery  not  satisfied  with  butchering  the 
peasantry  and  sacking  their  houses,  occasionally  ex- 
tended their  courteous  attentions  to  the  nobility  and 
gentry.  The  gentlemen  who  preferred  and  have  always 
"  preferred  their  master  to  their  God"  took  alarm ;  a  meet- 
ing was  called  in  some  portion  of  the  county  Meath. 
Most  of  the  Catholic  noblemen  of  the  Pale  attended,  and 
invitations  were  secretly  sent  by  the  bolder  spirits  to 
the  insurgent  leaders.  O'Reilly,  McMahon,  Byrne  and 
Fox  attended,  mutual  explanations  were  made,  and  an 
alliance  formed.  The  Catholic  Bishops  met  at  Kells  in 
March,  1642.  As  a  result  of  both  meetings  a  general 
assembly  of  "  the  lords  spiritual  and  temporal  and  the 
gentry  of  their  party"  was  convoked  at  Kilkenny,  in 
October,  1643.  Eleven  Bishops  and  fourteen  lay  lords 
represented  the  Irish  peerage  ;  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
six  commoners,  the  large  majority  of  the  constituencies." 
Lord  Mountgarret  presided,  and  a  supreme  council  of  six 
members  from  each  province  was  appointed  to  act  as  a 
provisional  government.  This  council  included  the 
Bishops  of^Armagh,  Tuam,  Clonfert,  Dublin  and  Down, 
and  the  lords  Mountgarret,  Roche,  Gormanstown,  and 
Mayo,  and  fifteen  of  the  most  eminent  commoners. 

This  body  became  the  ruling  power  of  Ireland  and  was 
most  loyally  obeyed  by  the  people.  "  It  undertook," 
says  Mr.  Sullivan,  "  all  the  functions  properly  appertain- 
ing to  its  high  office;  coined  money  at  a  national  mint; 
appointed  judges;  sent  ambassadors  abroad,  and  com- 
missioned officers  to  the  national  army — amongst  the  lat- 
ter being  Owen  Roe  O'Neill.  The  Anglo-Irish  faction  in 
the  confederation  was  too  strong,  and  no  sooner  did  the 
king  express  his  desire  to  come  to  terms,"  than  all  their 
former  loyalty  returned.  Indeed,  as  we  have  said  before, 
it  was  not  through  patriotism,  but  cowardice,  they  ever 


THE   BATTLE   OF   BEKBUKB.  107 

united  with  the  Irish.  Dissensions  soon  sprang  up,  the 
peace-at-any-price  party  wanted  everything  their  own 
way,  the  Irish  properly  refused  to  unite  in  so  slavish  a 
policy,  and  determined  to  fight  in  the  "  open  field,  fairly, 
for  land  and  life."  The  Anglo-Irish  lords  entered  into 
negotiations  with  Ormonde,  the  Lord  Lieutenant,  only  to 
be  betrayed  by  that  astute  nobleman.  A  truce  was 
agreed  upon,  but  not  observed  by  the  English,  for  "  Black 
Morrough  "  O'Brien  and  Scotch  Monroe  continued  their 
ravages  as  if  there  were  no  truce. 

Aid  soon  came  to  the  Irish  in  the  shape  of  money, 
arms,  and  munitions  of  war—  "wine  "—from  the  royal  Pope. 
The  papal  nuncio,  John  Baptist  Rinnucini  came  in  person 
and  brought  $36,000,  no  inconsiderable  sum  in  those 
days.  Luke  Wadding  forwarded  2,000  muskets,  2,000 
cartouche  belts,  4,000  swords,  2,000  pikeheads,  400 
brace  pistols,  20,000  pounds  of  powder,  with  match,  shot, 
and  other  stores.  The  nuncio,  unlike  some  of  latter  date, 
took  sides  with  the  national  party,  repudiated  all  com- 
promise with  the  king,  but  the  slavish  party  were  in  a 
majority  and  concluded  peace  with  Ormond.  The  Irish 
party  took  the  field  under  Owen  Roe  O'Neill.  Monroe 
had  been  marauding  and  massacreing  in  Ulster.  O'Neill 
inarched  to  meet  him  at  Benburb,  where  the  English  and 
Scotch  forces  were  utterly  routed  on  the  5th  of  June, 
1G46.  This  victory  gave  great  joy  to  the  Irish.  They 
felt  that  in  Owen  Roe  they  had  a  leader  who  was  equal 
in  strategy,  and  superior  in  prowess  to  any  of  the  English 
generals.  The  Anglo-Irish  general  Preston  defected  to 
the  English  and  united  his  forces  with  Inchiquin  "  Black 
Morrough."  The  war  from  then  until 

THE  ADVENT  OF  CROMWELL 

was  desultory  and  carried  on  chiefly  on  the  Guerilla  plan. 
The  most  infamous  cruelties  were  practiced  on  the  Irish 
who  fell  into  the  hands  of  Inchiquin,  at  one  place  twenty 
priests  were  dragged  from  under  the  altar  by  the  soldiers 
and  massacred  in  cold  blood — yet  such  was  the  party 
with  whom  the  sleek,  slavish  Anglo-Catholic  gentry — 
the  ancestors  of  the  "  base,  brutal,  and  bloody"  Whigs,  as 


108  CROMWELL   IN    IRELAND. 

O'Connell  called  them,  of  latter  times — entered  into  an 
unholy  alliance.  Verily  the  people  of  Ireland  have 
learned  a  lesson  or  two,  when  they  regard  the  descend- 
ants of  these  men  with  suspicion.  Let  us  hope  the  feel- 
ing will  thrive  and  grow. 

While  these  things  were  transpiring  in  Ireland, 

CHARLES  FLED  FROM  ENGLAND, 

but  trusting  to  the  loyalty  of  his  Scotch  subjects  was  be- 
trayed and  executed.  Cromwell  soon  quelled  all  opposi- 
tion in  England.  He  then  turned  his  attention  to  Ire- 
land, where,  in  the  language  of  Mr.  Froude,  he  saw  need 
for  a  sterner  and  firmer  policy. 

No  need  to  enter  into  the  sickening  details  of  Crom- 
well's campaigns  in  Ireland.  The  untimely  death  of 
Owen  Roe  O'Neill  left  the  Irish  people  without  a  leader, 
the  treachery  of  the  Anglo-Irish  party  left  them  without 
munitions  of  war.  Cromwell  had  little  to  contend  with. 
Massacres,  butcheries,  burnings,  hangings  and  the  most 
loathsome  and  savage  cruelties  became  the  order  of  the 
day.  The  stories  of  Drogheda  and  Wexford  have  often  been 
told.  "  To  hell  orConnaught,"  is  an  expression  graven  in 
the  memory  of  every  Irishman.  The  expatriation  of  the 
Irish  followers,  soldiery  and  gentry  to  Europe,  the  banish- 
ment of  women  and  children  to  starve  and  die  and  rot  in 
the  West  Indies;  Sir  William  Petty  says  that  six  thousand 
were  thus  banished,  but  adds  that  the  Irish  put  the  num- 
ber as  high  as  100,000.  The  Committee  of  Council  voted 
one  thousand  girls  and  as  many  youths  to  be  taken  up 
for  the  purpose"  of  making  them  English  and  Christian 
in  the  West  Indies.  This  pious  proceeding  was  carried 
out  at  the  request  of  Cromwell.  As  a  matter  of  course, 
the  estates  of  the  Irish  gentry  and  people  were  confis- 
cated and  given  to  Cromwell's  troopers.  The  most  brutal 
laws  were  enacted  to  put  down  the  Catholic  religion. 
"The  Parliamentary  Commissioners  in  Dublin  published 
a  proclamation  by  which,  and  other  edicts,  any  Catho- 
lic priest  found  in  Ireland  after  twenty  days,  was  guilty 
of  High  Treason,  and  liable  to  be  hanged,  drawn  and 
quartered;  any  person  harboring  such  clergyman  was 
liable  to  the  penalty  of  death  and  loss  of  goods  and 


THE   OATH   OF   SUPREMACY.  109 

chattels,  and  any  person  knowing  the  place  of  concealment 
of  a  priest  and  not  disclosing  it  to  the  authorities,  might 
be  .publicly  whipped,  and  further  punished  with  am- 
putation of  the  ears. 

"Any  person  absent  from  the  parish  church  (protestant) 
on  a  Sunday  was  liable  to  a  fine  of  thirty  pence:  magis- 
trates might  take  away  the  children  of  Catholics  and  send 
them  to  England  for  education,  and  might  tender 

THE   OATH   OF   SUPREMACY. 

"  I,  A  B,  do  reject  and  abjure  the  supremacy  of  the 
Roman  Pontiff,  and  assert  that  he  has  no  jurisdiction 
over  the  Catholic  church  in  general,  or  myself  in  particu- 
lar. I  abjure  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  purga- 
tory, and  the  worship  of  the  crucifix,  or  other  images.  I 
abjure,  moreover,  the  doctrine  which  teaches  that  salvation 
is  to  be  procured  by  good  works.  This  I  swear  without 
any  gloss,  equivocation,  or  mental  reservation,  so  help 
me  God." 

"To  all  persons  at  the  age  of  21  years,  who,  on  refusal, 
were  liable  to  imprisonment  during  pleasure,  and  the  for- 
feiture of  two-thirds  of  their  real  and  personal  estates." 
"  The  same  price  of  five  pounds,"  continues  Mr.  Haverty, 
"  was  set  on  the  head  of  a  priest,  and  on  that  of  a  wolf, 
and  the  production  of  either  head  was  a  sufficient  claim 
to  the  reward."  "  At  an  office  or  bureau,"  says  Mr.  A.  M. 
Sullivan,  "appointed  by  the  government  for  the  purpose, 
a  lottery  was  held,  whereat  farms,  houses,  and  estates 
from  which  the  owners  had  been  driven,  were  being 
'drawn'  by  or  on  behalf  of  the  soldiers  and  officers  of 
the  army,  and  the  '  adventurers' — i.  e.,  petty  shopkeepers 
in  London,  and  others  who  had  lent  money  for  the  war  on 
the  Irish." 

This  was  the  firm  rule,  the  stern  government,  and  these 
the  measures  which  have  so  won  the  admiration  of  James 
Anthony  Froude. 

There  is  little  to  be  said  in  reference  to  the  history  of 
Ireland  during  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  Many  of  the 
exiled  Irish  aided  that  monarch  in  obtaining  the  throne  of 
his  father,  but  the  Stuarts  were  never  remarkable  for 


110  WRETCHED   CONDITION   OF   THE   PEOPLE. 

gratitude,  and  Ireland  received  not  the  slightest  return 
for  the  services  of  her  children.  The  Anglo-Irish  ex- 
pected much  from  the  new  king.  They  were  totally  un- 
deceived. Whether  Stuart  or  Tudor,  Plantagenet  or 
Hanoverian,  Protestant  or  Catholic,  occupied  the  throne 
of  England  was  all  the  same  to  Ireland.  She  was  scourged 
and  robbed,  her  people  libelled,  her  aspirations  scoffed  at, 
her  feelings  mocked.  Thank  God  the  Irish  people  are 
"  disloyal  to  the  heart's  core."  With  the  exception  of  a 
few  fawning  sycophants,  they  hate  and  detest  England 
and  its  government;  they  are  "  Irishmen  to  the  backbone 
and  spinal  marrow." 

The  settlement  of  the  soldiery  on  the. lands  of  Ireland 
by  the  Parliament  after  the  Cromwellian  war,  was  a 
scheme  of  vaster  proportions  and  more  lasting  effects 
than  any  preceding  attempt  which  had  been  made  by  the 
English  to  utterly  extirpate  the  native  population. 

"  In  one  year  and  a  half,"  says  Spenser,  in  his  view 
of  the  state  of  Ireland,  "  they  were  brought  to  such 
wretchedness  as  any  stony  heart  would  have  rued  the 
sight  of.  Out  of  every  corner  of  the  woods  and  glynns 
they  came  forth  on  their  hands,  for  their  legs  could  not 
bear  them.  They  looked  like  anatomies  of  death,  and 
spoke  like  ghosts  crying  out  of  the  grave;  they  flocked  to 
a  plat  of  watercresses  as  to  a  feast,  though  it  afforded 
them  small  nourishment,  and  ate  dead  carrion,  happy 
where  they  could  find  it,  and  soon  after  scraped  the  very 
carcasses  out  of  the  graves."  Yet  this  "  gentle  poet"  only 
describes  this  warfare,  and  all  its  attendant  horrors,  in 
order  to  recommend  it  for  adoption  by  the  Earl  of  Essex 
in  the  war  then  on  foot  against  Hugh  O'Neill;  and  though 
Essex  did  not  fully  carry  out  that  ruthless  plan,  Lord 
Mountjoy,  who  succeeded  him,  did,  by  burning  all  the 
houses  and  destroying  the  corn  and  cattle,  till  the  dead  lay 
unburied  in  the  fields  in  thousands.  Prendergast  quotes 
the  following  from  a  letter  of  the  'Commissioners  of  the 
Parliament  of  the  Commonwealth  of  England  for  the  af- 
fairs of  Ireland:' 

"  DUBLIN,  1st  July,  1650. 

"  Last  Monday,  Col.  Hewson,  with  a  considerable  body 


NEW  EFFORT  TO  PLANT  ENGLISHMEN  ON  THE  LAND.    Ill 

from  hence,  marched  into  Wicklow.  Col.  Hewson  doth 
now  intend  to  make  use  of  scythes  and  sickles  that  were 
sent  over  in  1G49,  with  which  they  intend  to  cut  down  the 
corn  growing  in  those  parts  which  the  enemy  is  to  live 
upon  in  the  winter  time,  and  thereby,  for  want  of  bread 
and  cattle  the  Tories  may  be  left  destitute  of  provisions, 
and  so  forced  to  submit  and  quit  those  places."  Under 
this  destructive  system  of  war,  the  country  was  becoming 
a  waste,  without  cattle  and  without  inhabitants. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  year  1G53,  the  island  seemed 
sufficiently  desolated  to  allow  the  English  to  occupy  it.  On 
the  26th  of  September  in  that  year  the  parliament  passed 
an  act  for  the  new  planting  of  Ireland  with  English.  The 
government  reserved  for  themselves  all  the  towns,  all  the 
church  lands  and  tithes.  They  reserved  also  for  them- 
selves the  four  counties  of  Dublin,  Kildare,  Carlow  and 
Cork.  Out  of  the  lands  and  tithes  thus  reserved  the  gov- 
ernment were  to  satisfy  public  debts,  private  favorites, 
eminent  friends  of  the  republican  cause  in  parliament,  re- 
gicides, and  the  most  active  of  the  English  rebels,  not  be- 
ing of  the  army. 

They  next  made  ample  provision  for  the  adventurers, 
the  amount  granted  to  whom  was  £360,000.  This  they 
divided  into  three  lots,  of  which  £110,000  was  to  be  sat- 
isfied in  Munster,  £205,000  in  Leinster,  and  £45,000  in 
Ulster,  and  the  moiety  of  ten  counties  was  charged  with 
the  payment.  Waterford,  Limerick,  and  Tipperary,  in 
Munster ;  Meath,  Westmeath,  King's  and  Queen's  coun- 
ties, in  Leinster  ;  and  Antrim,  Down,  and  Armagh,  in 
Ulster.  But  as  it  was  required  by  the  adventurer's  act 
to  be  done  by  lot,  a  lottery  was  appointed  be  held  in 
Grocer's  Hall,  London,  for  the  20th  of  July,  1653,  where 
lots  should  be  first  drawn,  in  which  project  each  adven- 
turer was  to  be  satisfied,  not  exceeding  the  specified 
amounts  in  any  province  ;  secondly,  lots  were  to  be 
drawn  to  ascertain  in  which  of  the  ten  counties  each  ad- 
venturer was  to  receive  his  land.  And,  as  it  was  thought 
it  would  be  a  great  encouragement  to  the  adventurers 
^who  were  for  the  most  part  merchants  and  tradesmen) 
about  to  plant  in  so  wild  and  dangerous  a  country,  not 


112  CKOMWELI/S   PLANTATION. 

yet  subdued,  to  have  soldiers  planted  near  them.  These 
ten  counties,  when  surveyed,  were  to  be  divided,  each 
county  by  baronies,  into  two  moieties,  as  equally  as 
might  be,  without  dividing  any  barony.  A  lot  was  then 
to  be  drawn  by  the  sdventurens,  and  by  some  officer  op- 
pointed  by  the  Lori  General  Cromwell  on  behalf  of  the 
soldiery,  to  ascertain  which  baronies  in  the  ten  counties 
the  adventurers  should  have  and  which  the  soldiers. 

The  rest  of  Ireland,  except  Connaught,  was  to  be  set 
out  among  the  officers  and  soldiers. 

Space  will  not  permit  any  account  of  the  difficulties  en- 
countered, the  sufferings  endured  by  the  people  in  the 
efforts  to  enforce  this  wholesale  transplantation  of  a 
nation.  But  the  whole  sad  and  wonderful  story  is  graph- 
ically and  circumstantially  told  in  the  excellent  work  of 
John  P.  Prendergast,  entitled  "The  Cromwellian  Settle- 
ment," an  edition  of  which  has  been  issued  in  New  York 
by  P.  M.  Haverty. 


THE  SUPPRESSED  INDUSTRIES 
OF  IRELAND. 


WHY    HAS    IRELAND    NO    MANUFACTURES? 

The  question  is  frequently  asked,  Why  has  Ireland  no 
manufactures?  Why  has  she  no  commerce?  WThy  has 
she  always  remained  merely  an  agricultural  country? 
The  sea  surrounds  her  as  it  surrounds  the  adjacent  islands; 
the  oceans  are  for  her  as  well  as  for  England.  She  has 
ninety  harbors;  no  point  of  her  hills  or  plains  is  more 
than  fifty  miles  from  navigable  \vater.  Her  broad  rivers 
are  empty  arteries,  through  which  no  current  of  national 
trade  runs.  In  her  soil  are  coal,  copper  ore,  lead,  zinc, 
nickel,  gypsum,  potters'  clays,  building  stone,  slate  and 
marble.  Why  has  she  remained  merely  an  agricultural 
country,  with  no  income  from  any  source  but  the  products 
of  the  land  which  aliens  have  stolen? 

THE  REASON  WHY  IRISH    INDUSTRY  LANGUISHES. 

It  is  a  dry  story,  and  it  is  as  sad  as  it  is  dry.  Ireland, 
in  spite  of  her  natural  advantages,  has  no  great  manufac- 
tures because  it  has  never  been  consistent  with  the  com- 
mercial interests  of  her  landlord — England — that  she 
should  have  any.  The  English,  by  robbery  and  confis- 
cation, got  possession  of  the  land;  they  found  it  of  ines- 
timable richness  for  cereal  and  pastoral  purposes.  It  was 
convenient  for  them  to  limit  the  energies  of  the  Irish 
people  strictly  to  agriculture;  they  preferred  to  keep  to 
themselves  a  monopoly  of  the  markets  for  those  manufac- 

8  (113) 


UNSCRUPULOUS   INTERFERENCE   WITH    TRADE. 

tured  articles  producable  in  Ireland,  which  could  also  be 
produced  in  England.  They  did  not  propose  to  permit 
a  mere  dependent  whom  they  could  take  by  the  throat  to 
rise  into  an  industrial  competitor.  The  Irish  people 
made  sturdy  efforts  from  time  to  time  to  foster  their 
manufactures;  but  the  iron  hand  of  English  legislation 
was  promptly  put  forth  to  strangle  each  infant  industry  as 
it  began  to  give  signs  of  life. 

THE  CLOTHING  TRADE  DISCOURAGED  IN  1636. 

"  There  is  little  or  no  manufactures  among  them,"  wrote 
Lord  Strafford  in  1636,  while  governing  Ireland  for  the 
English  crown;  "but  some  small  beginnings  toward  a 
clothing  trade,  which  I  had  and  so  should  still  discourage 
all  I  could,  unless  otherwise  directed  by  His  Majesty  and 
their  Lordships  (the  king's  council);  in  regard  it  would 
trench  not  only  on  the  clothings  of  England,  being  our 
stable  commodity,  so  as  if  they  should  manufacture  their 
own  wool,  which  grew  to  very  great  quantities,  we  should 
not  only  lose  the  profit  we  make  now  by  indressing  their 
wools,  but  his  majestv  lose  extremely  in  his  customs,  and, 
in  conclusion,  it  might  be  feared  they  might  beat  us  out 
of  the  trade  itself  by  underselling,  which  they  are  able  to 
do."  In  Strafford's  now  quaint  phrases  is  laid  down  the 
principle  which  has  ever  framed  English  policy  toward 
Irish  manufactures.  This  policy  is  easily  analyzed. 

England  seized  the  land  in  Ireland.  By  taxing  it  for 
all  it  was  worth,  in  the  form  of  rents,  she  prevented  tho 
people  from  accumulating  money  which  could  be  used  as 
capital  to  start  manufactures. 

INFAMY  OF   ENGLAND    ON   THE    CURRENCY    AND    COINAGE. 

Not  content  with  this,  she  imposed  upon  Ireland  a 
base  and  spurious  currency  which  she  inflated  or  con- 
tracted, or  debased,  at  her  will.  Thus,  for  centuries,  while 
other  nations  were  developing  industries,  and  extending 
trade  by  land  and  water,  Ireland  was  deprived  of  cap- 
ital to  begin  manufactures  at  home,  and  the  worthlessness 
of  her  currency  made  it  undesirable  for  the  enterprise 
of  other  countries  to  seek  her  shores  and  promote  indus- 
trial barter. 


COMPOSITION    OF   IRISH   PARLIAMENTS.  115 

In  spite  of  the  constant  drain  of  money  out  of  the  island ; 
in  spite,  too,  of  the  vicious  and  unscrupulous  interference 
with  the  currency,  some  manufactures,  those  which  the 
peculiar  resources  of  the  country  rendered  easiest  of  cul- 
tivation, appeared.  The  English  government  practically 
suppressed  them.  As  often  as  they  eluded  the  vigilance 
of  the  English  manufacturers,  and  sprang  up  again,  they 
were  subjected  to  grievous  restrictions  ;  and  this  course 
was  maintained  until  the  passage  of  the  act  of  legislative 
union  between  Ireland  and  England  in  1800,  when  it 
was  stipulated  that  the  trade  of  the  two  countries  should 
be  put  on  the  same  legal  basis.  This  condition  of  the 
act  was  not  carried  out,  for  cross-channel  duties  were  not 
abolished  until  1875.  To-day  the  laws  apparently  put 
no  obstacle  in  the  way  of  Irish  manufactures;  but  the  leg- 
islation of  centuries  had  previously  accomplished  its  pur- 
pose so  effectually  that  repeal  of  the  restraining  and  pro- 
hibitory statutes  was  almost  harmless  to  English  inter- 
ests. 

Before  entering  upon  the  history  of  Irish  money  and 
the  suppression  of  Irish  manufactures  in  those  early  pe- 
riods, when  a  sure  foundation  could  have  been  laid,  it  is 
necessary  to  say  a  word  explanatory  of  the  act  of  legisla- 
tive union. 

THERE  WERE  NOMINAL  IRISH  PARLIAMENTS, 

from  the  thirteenth  century  up  to  the  close  of  the  eigh- 
teenth. But  they  were  merely  recording  agents  for  the 
will  of  the  English  crown.  They  were  composed  at  first 
chiefly  of  the  English  colonists  and  their  dependents;  the 
natives  were  almost  wholly  excluded  from  them.  It  would 
have  been  impossible  to  prevent  numbers  of  the  Irish 
from  getting  in,  had  not  the  penal  laws  come  to  the  res- 
cue of  the  government.  Under  these  only  the  people 
who  professed  the  faith  prescribed  by  the  English  crown 
were  eligible  to  membership  in  or  to  vote  for  members 
of  the  Irish  Parliament.  As  four-fifths  of  the  people  of 
Ireland  never  adopted  that  form  of  faith,  they  were  abso- 
lutely obliterated  from  representation,  directly  or  indirect- 
ly. During  part  of  the  seventeenth  and  the  whole  of  the 


116  PROTEST  ANT   PATRIOTISM   IN    1782. 

eighteenth  century,  the  Irish  Parliaments  consisted  of  rep- 
resentatives of  only  one-fifth  of  the  nation.  This  minor- 
ity, exclusively  protestant,  governed  the  country  agreea- 
bly to  the  orders  of  the  English  crown  until  the  time  of 
Swift. 

PARLIAMENTARY     INDEPENDENCE 1782. 

A  patriotic  feeling  then  was  engendered  within  it,  and 
in  1782  Grattan  induced  the  parliament  to  declare  that  it 
was  independent  of  the  English  parliament,  and  had  the 
sole  right  to  make  laws  for  Ireland.  The  American  war 
had  compelled  the  English  crown  to  withdraw  the  reg- 
ular troops  from  Ireland,  and  permit  the  enrollment  of 
Irish  volunteers  for  coast  defense,  in  case  of  threatened 
invasion  by  the  French.  These  volunteers,  80,000  in 
number,  were  in  sympathy  with  the  patriot  party  in  the 
Irish  parliament,  and  rather  than  run  the  risk  of  rebellion 
the  English  Government  consented  to  the  independence 
of  the  parliament,  but  the  volunteers  were  disbanded. 
For  eighteen  years  the  Irish  parliament  continued  inde- 
pendent to  the  extent  of  originating  legislation,  a  privi- 
lege it  had  not  previously  enjoyed.  It  still  represented 
only  one-fifth  of  the  people;  but  it  manifested  a  strong 
tendency  toward  repealing  the  penal  code  which  dis- 
franchised the  other  four-fifths,  and  evinced  so  thoroughly 
enterprising  a  spirit  in  relation  to  Irish  industry  and 
manufactures  that  the  English  government  determined  to 
sweep  it  out  of  existence. 

A  PROGRAMME  OP  UNBLUSHING  BRIBERY 

was  arranged,  and  £1,260,000  was  expended  in  the  pur- 
chase of  members,  many  of  whom  were  rewarded  besides 
with  titles  of  "  nobility."  It  should  be  said  in  explana- 
tion of  this  astounding  transaction  that  most  of  the 
members  were  English  sympathizers  in  politics,  and  all  in 
all  religion.  The  Irish  Parliament  ceased  to  exist  in 
1800. 

ENGLAND     HAS    NEVER    HAD    ANY    MONEY    TO    SPARE    TO 
ENCOURAGE  IRISH  INDUSTRY. 

She  has  always  been  able  to  spend  millions  to  put  down 


COINAGE   FOE   IRELAND.  117 

insurrection  and  to  degrade  morality.  Elizabeth  spent 
£3,000,000  in  her  Irish  wars;  the  suppression  of  the  re- 
bellion of  '98 — covering  a  period  of  about  five  months 
—cost  the  English  Crown  from  £30,000,000  to  £50,000,- 
000.  To  transfer  the  seat  of  legislation  from  Dublin  to 
London,  she  could  spend  a  million  and  a  quarter  pounds. 
But  the  government  cannot  loan  a  dollar  to  the  Irish 
farmer,  of  the  money  stolen  from  him,  for  the  occupancy 
of  land  stolen  from  his  fathers — cannot  spend  a  shilling 
reclaiming  waste  lands  or  draining  bogs,  and  did  not 
even  provide  a  primary  school  for  the  people  it  robbed  of 
their  schools  until  thirty-five  years  ago. 

SOME    REMARKS    ON"    COINAGE    FOR   IRELAND  BY  ENGLISH 
ROYAL   THIEVES. 

No  chapter  in  the  history  of  the  relations  of  the  two 
countries  more  perfectly  exhibits  the  malice  of  England 
and  the  helplessness  and  misery  of  Ireland  than  that  cov- 
ering the  coinage.  Gold  and  silver  were  used  at  a  very 
early  period  among  the  Irish.  The  first  coinage  of  English 
money  did  not  occur  until  1210,  when  King  John  caused 
pennies,  half-pennies  and  farthings  to  be  coined  of  the 
same  weight  as  those  in  Ireland.  In  the  reign  of  Ed- 
ward III  the  ounce  of  silver  which  had  been  previously 
cut  into  twenty  deniers,  was  ordered  into  twenty  six.  In 
the  reign  of  Henry  VI  brass  money  was  thought  good 
enough  for  Ireland.  In  1465  it  was  ordered  that  all  the 
gold  coins  struck  in  England  during  six  reigns  should  be 
raised  in  value  in  Ireland,  the  "noble"  from  eight  shil- 
lings and  four  pence  to  ten  shillings,  and  its  fractional 
parts  in  the  same  proportion — twenty  per  centum.  In 
1467  an  act  was  passed  by  which  the  value  of  the  English 
silver  coin  was  made  double  what  it  had  been  in  the  previ- 
ous reign.  The  result  was,  of  course,  a  sudden  increase  in 
prices,  producing  general  distress,  and  the  only  remedy 
supplied  was  a  further  corruption  of  the  currency  in  the 
form  of  new  base  coins.  In  1473  an  act  was  passed  to 
raise  the  value  of  silver  still  higher.  In  1476  there  was  a 
scarcity  of  money;  the  coin  was  again  debased,  so  that  in 
1509  it  was  necessary  to  determine  the  value  of  coins 


118  BRASS   MONEY. 

by  weighing  them.  When  Henry  VIII  assumed  the  title 
of  "King  of  Ireland"  he  caused  new  coins  to  be  struck  in 
his  honor,  and,  not  wishing  to  thrust  them  on  the  people 
of  England  on  account  of  their  baseness,  it  was  made  a 
crime  punishable  with  fine  treble  their  value  and  imprison- 
ment, to  import  them  from  Ireland  into  England.  Not 
content  with  this,  he  ordered 

BRASS  COINED  IN  IRELAND, 

and,  by  proclamation,  made  it  current  money.  Queen 
Mary  improved  the  standard  of  money  in  England  ;  but 
Ireland  was  specifically  excepted  from  the  act,  and  brass 
teas  ordered  coined  for  that  island;  in  her  reign,  and  in 
that  of  her  two  successors,  over  twenty-two  thousand 
pounds  of  brass  money  was  thrust  upon  Ireland.  This 
shows  that  the  oppression  of  Ireland  by  England  has  not 
been  dictated  solely  by  religious  animosity.  The  relig- 
ion professed  upon  the  English  throne  never  made  any 
difference  in  the  English  policy  enforced  in  Ireland. 
Queen  Elizabeth  ordered  the  ounce  of  silver  cut  into  sixty 
pennies;  it  had  previously  been  cut  into  twenty.  The 
Queen  decreed  that  shillings  of  the  value  of  nine  pence 
in  England  pass  for  twelve  pence  in  Ireland;  and  it  was 
subsequently  ordered  that  all  moneys  current  in  England 
should  be  considered  only  bullion  in  Ireland,  without  le- 
gal value  as  money,  a  new  standard  of  base  moneys  being 
provided  for  the  latter.  The  mixture  was  coined  in  Eng- 
land and  forced  upon  Ireland;  goods  and  provisions  rose 
at  once;  the  landlord  did  not  reduce  his  raised  rent  when 
the  sterling  money  was  subsequently  restored;  and  the 
poor  tenant,  upon  whom  the  most  of  the  burden  finally  fell, 
found  himself  compelled  to  pay  three  hundred  per  cent, 
more  than  the  price  he  had  contracted  for. 

James  I  made  a  partial  effort  to  remedy  the  evils  pro- 
duced by  the  Elizabethan  legislation,  but  in  1609  it  was 
ordered  that  the  English  shilling  should  pass  in  Ireland 
for  sixteen  pence,  and  the  melting  of  gold  and  silver  coin 
was  prohibited  under  severe  penalty.  English  money 
was  at  this  time  current  in  Ireland  and  the  crown  desired 
to  prevent  any  reduction  of  it,  even  for  art  or  industrial 


PLENTY   AND    CHEAP   CURKEXCT.  119 

purposes.  The  twenty-shilling  piece  passed  for  twenty- 
six  shillings  and  eight  pence.  Exchange  between  Dublin 
and  London  was  twenty-one  shillings  for  fifteen.  During 
the  reign  of  Charles  I,  several  attempts  were  made  to  de- 
range the  circulating  medium  still  more,  but  the  English 
adventurers  and  tradesmen  found  their  own  pockets  the 
sufferers,  and  their  influence  effected  the  issuance  of  a 
proclamation  requiring  all  payments  to  be  made  in  ster- 
ling English  money;  but,  lest  the  Irish  should  construe 
this  as  an  act  of  justice  to  them,  the  same  document  de- 
creed the  effacement  of  all  Irish  symbols  upon  the  coins. 
Charles  II,  after  the  restoration,  granted  a  patent  for 
twenty-one  years  to  Sir  Thomas  Armstrong  for  coining 
copper  farthings  for  Ireland  and  the  circulation  of  all 
others  was  forbidden.  In  1602  the  king  granted  another 
patent  to  three  goldsmiths  for  twenty-one  years  for  coin- 
ing silver  money,  on  condition  of  paying  to  him  twelve 
pence  out  of  every  pound  troy. 

In  spite  of  all  these  efforts  to  make  money  "  plenty  and 
cheap,"  currency  was  so  scarce  that  in  1672  several  Irish 
towns  struck  coins  of  their  own.  The  government,  pre- 
ferring to  keep  the  profitable  monopoly  in  its  own  hands, 
promptly  issued  proclamations  making  the  town  coinage 
illegal.  The  day  after  King  James  arrived  in  Dublin 
from  France  he  inflated  the  currency.  English  gold  was 
raised  twenty  per  cent.,  silver  eight  and  one-third.  This 
did  not  prove  adequate  to  the  necessities;  he  therefore 
established  two  mints,  one  in  Limerick  and  one  in  Dublin, 
and  coined  money  composed  of  brass  and  copper  mixed, 
to  be  taken  for,  respectively,  six  pence,  twelve  pence  and 
half  a  crown.  This  money  was  made  legal  tender  for  all 
debts.  Brass  guns  were  melted  into  coin.  And  mos.t 
extraordinary  inducements  were  offered  for  metal  deliv- 
ered at  the  mint.  Loans  were  solicited,  payable  on  de- 
mand, with  ten  per  cent,  interest.  The  compound  issued 
as  money  the  people  were  compelled  to  take;  any  one 
Avho  refused  it  was  subjected  to  severe  legal  penalties. 
The  coins  were  a  curious  mixture,  according  to  Wake- 
field,  of  old  guns,  broken  bells,  old  copper,  brass  and 
pewter,  old  kitchen  utensils  and  the  refuse  of  metals. 


120  WOOD'S   PATENT   COPPER    PENNIES. 

The  workmen  in  the  mint  valued  it  at  three  or  four  pence 
the  pound  weight;  it  was  legally  current  at  any  value 
the  English  king  put  upon  it.  When  he  left  the  coun- 
try he  and  his  fellows  carried  off  with  them  large  quanti- 
ties of  gold  and  silver,  leaving  the  trash,  over  six  million 
pounds  of  pretended  "  money,"  to  their  Irish  victims. 

King  William  III  made  his  money  proclamation,  of 
course;  he  reduced  the  value  of  King  James'  coins,  mak- 
ing the  crown  and  half  crown  pass  for  a  penny  each,  and 
the  shilling  and  six  pence  for  a  farthing.  In  the  last 
year  of  his  reign  he  reduced  the  price  of  gold  and  silver 
in  Ireland.  Queen  Anne  made  no  money  for  Ireland  but 
"  regulated  "  what  her  predecessors  had  made,  and  George 
I  enjoys  having  roused  into  activity  that  surly  lion,  Dean. 
Swift,  by  issuing  the  famous  patent  to  William  Wood  for 
the  manufacture  of  copper  half  pence  and  farthings  for 
exclusive  use  in  Ireland.  One  pound  of  copper  was  to  be 
coined  into  two  shillings  and  six  pence;  one  hundred 
tons  were  to  be  issued  for  the  first  year,  and  twenty  tons 
each  succeeding  year.  His  Majesty's  share  of  the  profits 
was  fixed  at  eight  hundred  pounds  per  annum,  and  his 
comptrollers  at  two  hundred  pounds  per  annum.  The 
loss  to  Ireland  would  have  been  over  sixty  thousand 
pounds.  The  Protestants  in  Ireland  had  by  this  time 
sufficient  strength  to  resist  so  enormous  a  swindle;  and 
their  sturdy  spirit  was  expressed  by  Swift  in  the  amusing 
"  Drapier's  Letters."  The  coin  in  the  island  then  was 
estimated  by  Primate  Boulter  at  about  four  hundred 
thousand  pounds.  The  consequence  of  the  introduction 
of  Wood's  cheap  copper,  he  apprehended  would  be  "  the 
loss  of  our  silver  and  gold,  to  the  ruin  of  our  trade  and 
manufacture,  and  the  sinking  of  all  our  estates  here." 
Boulter  was  leader  of  the  English  party  in  Ireland.  He 
was  anxious  to  have  every  office  in  Ireland  filled  by  En- 
glishmen. He  was  a  strenuous  advocate  of  the  penal 
code,  and  a  "  godly  man "  who  would  have  sacrificed 
everything  in  Ireland  for  the  maintenance  of  the  English 
Crown,  except  his  own  private  interests.  Wood's  half- 
pence menaced  these;  to  this  lofty  motive  the  Irish  were 
indebted  for  the  primate's  active  opposition  to  the 
scheme. 


THE  DKAPIEE'S  LETTERS.  121 

When  Molyneux  in  1698,  published  his  statement  of 
Irish  political  and  industrial  grievances,  the  English  gov- 
ernment ordered  the  work  burnt;  but  Boulter,  who  was 
the  most  influential  politician  in  Ireland,  and  Swift,  the 
most  effective  essayist  in  the  two  kingdoms,  were  not 
thus  to  be  annihilated.  Swift's  bitter  satire  proved  too 
much  for  Wood,  who  surrendered  his  patent  in  1724,  af- 
ter about  seventeen  thousand  pounds  had  been  sent  over 
to  Ireland.  Boulter  mentioned  as  one  of  his  chief  objec- 
tions to  the  half-pence  that  it  "  had  a  very  unhappy  influ- 
ence on  the  state  of  this  nation  by  bringing  on  intimacies 
between  Papists  and  Jacobites  and  the  Whigs."  Swift's 
letters  actually  united  all  classes  of  the  people  against 
the  half-pence  and  against  the  king.  A  reward  was  of- 
fered for  the  discovery  of  the  author  of  the  "  Fourth  Let- 
ter," in  which  Swift  stated  that  '•'•government  without  the 
consent  of  the  governed  is  the  very  definition  of  slavery;" 
and  the  government  instituted  prosecution  against  the 
printer,  but  the  grand  jury  refused  to  bring  in  a  bill. 
The  lesson  was  salutary,  if  brief;  when  the  king  ordered 
another  copper  coinage  more  than  ten  years  later,  it  was 
left  optional  with  the  people  to  take  or  refuse  it.  The 
differences  arising  from  the  tinkering  of  the  money  con- 
tinued, however,  and  every  expedient  resorted  to,  being 
devised  solely  to  benefit  England,  proved  mischievous. 

The  three  ways  by  which  money  may  be  altered  at  the 
expense  of  the  country  in  which  it  circulates, — reducing 
the  weight,  debasing  the  quality,  and  raising  the  nominal 
value, — all  had  been  repeatedly  tried,  to  the  great  profit 
of  the  foreign  rulers  of  Ireland,  and  to  the  constant  injury 
and  demoralization  of  her  trade  and  the  suffocation  of  her 
industries.  Every  time  the  value  of  the  money  was  raised, 
the  debtors  were  robbed;  every  time  it  was  lowered,  the 
creditors  were  robbed.  Credit  was  destroyed;  for  no 
man  could  tell  when  contracting  a  debt,  what  sum  he 
might  ultimately  have  to  pay,  and  no  man  could  afford  to 
extend  favors,  not  knowing  what  return  he  might  receive. 
In  Ireland,  especially,  credit  was  absolutely  essential  to 
the  progress  of  the  infant  industries,  since  the  capital  of 
the  country  was  small  by  compulsion,  and  the  native 


122  DEBASEMENT   OF   THE    COIN. 

gold  and  silver  was  hurried  abroad  to  absentee  proprie- 
tors. The  incessant  inflation  and  depression  of  the  cur- 
rency and  the  intrinsic  worthlessness  of  so  large  a  portion 
of  it,  made  credit  simply  impossible.  No  count  in  the 
fearful  indictment  which  England  has  written  for  herself 
in  Irish  legislation  is  more  grave,  therefore,  than  her 
heartless  alteration  and  corruption  of  Irish  money.  Her 
sole  purpose  was  to  enrich  English  tradesmen  a't  Irish  ex- 
pense; in  that  she  succeeded,  but  she  succeeded  at  the 
same  time  in  retarding  many  industries  in  Ireland  and  in 
quite  extinguishing  others.  Without  a  stable  currency 
no  man  has  confidence  in  his  neighbor;  without  confi- 
dence, there  can  be  no  credit;  without  credit  trade  is  im- 
possible; without  trade  manufactures  languish  and  ex- 
pire. If  Ireland  be  a  country  without  industries,  let  the 
world  place  the  responsibility  where  it  belongs  and  let 
the  motive  animating  that  responsibility  be  properly  un- 
derstood. 

ESTABLISHMENT    OF    BANKS    IN    IRELAND. 

There  was  no  bank  in  Ireland  until  1783.  The  first 
savings  bank  was  opened  in  1810.  But  the  pernicious 
effects  of  the  policy  pursued  for  centuries  by  the  English 
government  had  insinuated  itself  into  the  minds  of  the 
people;  many  who  entrusted  to  the  banks  what  they  saved 
lost  it,  many  more  secretly  hoarded  their  little  gain. 
There  is  not  a  healthy  feeling  about  money  in  Ireland  to 
this  day;  and  the  land  system  must  prevent  the  develop- 
ment of  such  a  feeling  while  the  present  laws  remain  in 
force.  The  tenant  knows  that  if,  after  a  good  season,  he 
is  a  few  pounds  ahead,  and  puts  the  money  in  bank  or 
loans  it  on  security,  his  rent  will  be  forthwith  raised.  Ho 
has  no  motive  for  thrift.  He  ought,  rather,  prefer  moder- 
ate to  good  harvests.  The  savings  banks  make  a  respect- 
able showing,  but  their  patrons  are  the  town  merchants 
and  the  small  proprietors.  Every  shilling  the  toiling  ten- 
ant can  make  above  the  meagre  subsistence  of  his  family 
is  destined,  not  for  the  savings  bank,  but  for  the  landlord. 
He  can  feel  no  inducement  to  save  a  shilling  until  the 
landlord  and  he  are  put  on  a  just  footing  before  the  law. 


THE   CULTIVATION   OF   FLAX.  123 

It  is  certainly  a  moderate  statement  that  no  country  can 
build  up  a  system  of  industries  without  a  stable  currency. 
England  never  permitted  Ireland  to  have  such  a  currency 
in  the  years  when  she  might  have  built  up  manufactures. 
It  is  equally  evident  that  no  country  which  is  constantly 
drained  of  the  proceeds  of  its  natural  wealth,  can  accum- 
ulate capital  to  invest  in  industrial  enterprise.  England 
drains  Ireland,  through  her  iniquitous  land  system,  of  the 
money  which,  if  left  at  home,  would  be  used  as  manufac- 
turing capital.  The  money  goes  now  to  pay  the  luxur- 
ious living  of  Irish  landlords  resident  in  England  and  on 
the  continent. 

THE  CULTIVATION  OF  FLAX. 

The  delicately  close  relation  between  land  tenure  and 
manufacturing  industry  in  Ireland  is  illustrated  strik- 
ingly in  flax.  This  requires  nine  years  rotation  of 
crops.  What  small  farmer  can  afford  to  use  his  soil  for 
this  valuable  seed  when  he  knows  that  he  may  be  turned 
off  his  holding  whenever  his  landlord  pleases.  Yet  the 
linen  manufacture  to  which  the  flax  is  essential, — the 
only  Irish  industry  England  never  succeeded  in  killing, — 
is  the  largest  and  most  profitable  in  Ireland.  If  it  has 
striven  so  sturdily  under  such  disadvantageous  circum- 
stances, what  might  it  not  become,  with  Ireland's  im- 
mense water  power  and  abundant  and  cheap  labor,  were 
the  general  cultivation  of  flax  made  possible  by  fixity  of 
tenure  or  a  peasant  proprietary? 

THK  LINEN  AND  WOOLEN   INDUSTRIES 

are  probably  the  oldest  in  Ireland.  They  had  reached 
extensive  proportions  when  the  English  invasion  occurred, 
both  were  exported  in  the  fifteenth  century.  The  woolen 
trade  of  England  grew  jealous  of  the  Irish  manufacturers 
who,  as  already  shown  by  Strafford's  letter,  were  able  to 
undersell  the  English  traders;  and  the  suppression  of  the 
manufacture  of  wool  was  deliberately  planned  in  Eng- 
land. In  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the 
exportation  of  wool  from  Ireland  was  absolutely  prohib- 
ited. This  was  a  severe  blow  upon  Irish  industry;  its 


124:       IRISH    THRIFT    REBUKED    AND    DISREGARDED. 

effect  was  not  limited  to  a  diminution  of  the  manufacture 
itself;  the  moral  consequence  was  deeper  and  more  ex- 
tensive than  the  material.  Jrish  thrift  felt  that  it  was  re- 
buked and  discouraged.  Irish  industry  recognized  that 
it  had  no  place  under  English  rule.  The  prohibition  was, 
in  fact,  an  official  notice  from  the  English  crown  to  the 
Irish  people  that  they  must  not  engage  in  manufacture, 
and  that  if  they  did,  the  profits  of  their  enterprise  should 
cross  the  channel,  or  the  enterprise  itself  should  be  sup- 
pressed. The  woolen  trade  was  revived  somewhat  by 
the  home  demand;  and  as  soon  as  this  was  discovered  by 
the  English  manufacturers,  fresh  legislation  was  procured 
to  suppress  it  absolutely,  so  that  the  English  manufactu- 
rers might  have  Ireland  for  their  own  exclusive  market. 
This  was  actually  done,  so  far  as  legislation  could  do  it, 
by  imposing  enormous  duties  upon  the  manufactured 
goods.  Before  the  prohibition  of  the  export,  the  value 
and  dimension  of  the  Irish  woolen  trade  may  be  judged 
from  Dean  Swift's  statement  that  foreign  silver  was  the 
current  money  in  Ireland,  and  that  a  man  could  hardly  re- 
ceive a  hundred  pounds  without  finding  in  it  the  coin  of 
all  the  northern  powers.  The  jealousy  of  the  English 
weavers  cut  Ireland  off  from  the  northern  trade.  The 
result  was  not  confined  either  to  Ireland  or  England. 

Many  of  the  Irish  manufacturers,  whose  business  was 
thus  destroyed,  left  their  Irish  debts  unpaid,  adding  thus 
to  the  misery  of  the  poor,  and  went  to  France,  Spain  and 
the  Netherlands.  The  woolen  manufacture  in  France 
rose  upon  the  ruin  of  that  in  Ireland.  The  ruin  was  prac- 
tically complete.  The  restrictions  were  relaxed  when 
English  jealousy  no  longer  needed  their  enforcement. 
The  official  returns  laid  before  the  House  of  Commons  in 
1875,  showed  that  there  are  in  the  United  Kingdom  1,800 
woolen  factories;  of  these  but  60  are  in  Ireland,  giving 
employment  to  only  1,500  persons.  A  recent  number  of 
the  Pall  Mall  Gazette,,  speaking  of  Irish  woolen  manu- 
facture, admits  that  "  its  growth  has  been  stunted  by 
nearly  350  years  of  legislative  restrictions  and  prohibito- 
ry tariffs." 

Had  the  woolen  trade,   for  whose  cultivation  Ireland 


WOOLEN   AND    COTTON   MANUFACTURES.  125 

was  so  well  fitted  and  so  well  inclined,  been  permitted  to 
exist,  many  other  industries  would  have  thriven  with  it; 
but  its  suppression  discouraged  the  spirit  of  industry  and 
even  artificial  stimulants  failed  to  make  very  profitable 
the  English  capital  invested  for  a  time  in  Irish  linen;  for 
as  soon  as  the  English  linen  manufacturers  detected 
Irish  competition  in  foreign  markets,  restrictions  were 
laid  on  that  industry  also.  It  can  never  exceed  its  pres- 
ent insignificant  size  until  the  ownership  of  the  land 
makes  the  flax  culture  safe;  indeed,  it  has  of  late  years 
been  declining.  It  is  almost  needless  to  speak  of  the 

MANUFACTURE  OF  COTTON  IN   IRELAND. 

There  were  eight  factories  in  1875;  in  1879  they  de- 
clined to  six;  in  1871  there  were  fourteen.  The  manu- 
facture of  cotton  was  introduced  into  Ireland  in  1777,  as 
a  means  of  employment  for  the  children  in  the  Belfast 
poor  house.  Many  persons  who  had  been  earning  their 
bread  in  the  woolen  trade  were  out  of  employment,  and 
to  use  their  labor  the  experiment  was  extended.  It  was 
consistent  with  English  interest  to  encourage  it  for  a  time, 
and  it  prospered  so  well  that  Wakefield  speaks  of  it  in 
1812  as  "now  fully  established  in  Ireland,"  and  holding 
out  "  strong  hopes  of  success  and  prosperity.  "  It  even 
lent  to  some  parts  of  the  country  "  an  appearance  of  su- 
perior opulence  and  industry."  But  during  the  war  with 
America  in  1812-1815,  the  English  cotton  trade  was  so 
affected  that  the  Irish  production  of  that  article  became 
intolerable.  It  was  therefore  practically  annihilated  in 
1816,  and  to-day,  after  so  long  an  interval,  it  amounts  to 
little  or  nothing,  only  eight  factories  being  reported  in 
1875,  employing  about  3,000  persons.  Other  minor  in- 
dustries, such  as  worsted,  shoddy,  hemp,  jute,  hair,  silk, 
and  hosiery,  have  grown  a  little  during  the  present 
century;  they  are  at  present  in  a  state  of  decay.  The 
money  that  would  maintain  them  until  they  could  main- 
tain themselves,  is  drawn  out  of  the  country.  Lace-mak- 
ing, which  at  one  time  was  quite  a  prominent  industry, 
has  almost  disappeared. 


126  THE   CATTLE-TRADE. 

THE    CATTLE-TRADE   IN  IRELAND 

is  one  of  the  oldest  of  her  industries.  Its  history  is  that 
of  all  the  rest.  When  consistent  with  English  interests, 
it  was  tolerated;  when  profitable  to  England,  it  was  en- 
couraged; when  inconvenient  for  English  cattle-raisers, 
it  was  restricted.  In  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, it  was  very  prosperous.  In  1GG3  England  suffered 
from  the  contraction  and  depression  of  foreign  war.  It 
was  necessary  to  resort  to  some  means  to  improve  the 
spirits  of  the  commercial  classes,  and  an  act  was  passed, 
entitled  "  For  the  encouragement  of  trade,"  prohibiting 
the  exportation  of  live  stock  from  Ireland.  The  Irish 
graziers  tried  to  repair  the  injury  done  them  by  killing 
the  animals  and  exporting  the  meat  salted.  This  was 
promptly  rebuked.  In  16G5  an  act  was  passed  prohibit- 
ing the  export  of  cattle,  "  dead  or  alive,  fat  or  lean." 
And  just  here  an  episode  is  recalled  upon  which  every 
man  may  make  his  own  cotnment.  The  great  fire  of 
London  occurred  in  16GG.  The  plague  had  done  its  aw- 
ful work  during  the  previous  year.  Great  destitution 
ensued  among  the  English  poor.  Notwithstanding  the 
brutal  disposition  England  had  displayed  toward  Ireland 
the  Irish  people  were  touched  by  English  distress.  They 
had  no  money  to  send;  their  textile  industries  were 
languishing  in  obedience  to  English  prohibition.  Al 
they  had  to  spare  was  cattle,  and  a  large  supply  of  these 
was  kindly  sent  over  to  help  feed  the  famishing.  The  gift 
was  greedily  enough  consumed;  but,  instead  of  being 
acknowledged  as  both  its  substantial  value  and  the  spirit 
that  sent  it  should  have  been,  it  was  loudly  denounced — 
after  being  eaten — as  "  a  political  continuance  to 
defeat  the  prohibition  of  Irish  cattle."  When  an 
attempt  was  subsequently  made  to  procure  a  repeal  of 
the  prohibition,  the  King  himself  was  induced  to  listen 
to  the"  prayers  of  the  Irish  gra/iers;  but  the  English 
Parliament  stolidly  refused,  the  Commons  characteri/ed 
the  Irish  cattle  trade  as  4i  a  nuisnnce,"  and  the  more 
dignified  lords  pronounced  it  "  a  detriment  and  mischief/' 
At  one  time  Ireland  had  some  manufactories  for  produc- 


THE   WATER-POWER   OF   IRELAND.  127 

ing  glass.  Statutes  were  enacted  prohibiting  the  expor- 
tation of  the  article  from  Ireland,  or  its  importation  from 
any  country  but  England. 

Perhaps  it  may  be  suggested  that  the  timber  in  Ireland 
having  disappeared  and  the  coal  being  deficient  in  quan- 
tity and  inferior  in  quality,  Ireland  could  not  have  become 
a  great  manufacturing  country  even  if  English  legislation 
had  not  been  malicious.  It  is  sufficient  to  allude  to  her 
immense  water  power  which  her  people  have  been  pre- 
vented from  utilizing;  and  to  add  that  English  coals  have 
always  been  cheaper  in  Dublin  and  at  other  manufactur- 
ing points  in  Ireland  than  in  London.  Friendly  legisla- 
tion— indeed,  no  legislation — would  have  enabled  Ireland 
to  take  a  very  respectable  place  among  manufacturers; 
and,  but  for  English  legislation,  the  Irish  farmer  would 
have  been  able  to  exchange  at  home  the  produce  of  the 
soil  for  clothing  and  other  necessaries.  During  the  fam- 
ine year  of  '47,  more  than  enough  grain  was  raised  in 
Ireland  to  feed  all  her  people.  It  had  to  be  sent  out  of 
the  country,  partly  because  the  land  that  produced  it  was 
held  chiefly  by  the  heirs  of  the  original  robbers;  and 
partly  because  the  Irish  farmers  who  had  anything  to  sell 
were  compelled  to  sell  it  abroad  in  order  to  procure  tht> 
manufactured  articles  they  needed,  most  of  which  could 
have  been  manufactured  in  Ireland  bad  English  legisla- 
tion permitted. 

In  a  word,  English  legislation,  by  vesting  in  aliens  the 
land  seix.ed  by  robbery  and  confiscation  ;  and  by  suppress- 
ing Irish  industries,  has  made  poverty  in  Ireland  compul- 
sory ;  has  made  periodical  famine  in  Ireland  certain  ;  and 
and  there  will  be  no  remedy  for  these  evils  until  the  land 
of  Ireland  is  restored  to  the  people  of  Ireland,  and  until 
an  Irish  legislature  has  the  chance  to  make  the  laws  to 
build  up  Irish  manufactures.  History  furnishes  no  in- 
stance of  one  nation  developing  the  industrial  resources 
of  another.  If  Ireland  is  ever  to  arise  from  her  present 
depression,  it  will  be  the  result  of  her  own  independent 
efforts,  untrammeled  from  a  foreign  legislature,  and  hav- 
ing no  object  in  view  but  the  material  and  moral  benefit 
of  her  own  people.  The  Irish- Americans  in  the  United 


128  POVERTY   IN   IRELAND   IS   COMPULSORY. 

States  have  sent  $65,000,000  to  Ireland  in  twenty  years. 
All  this  is  a  tax  levied  upon  the  people  of  the  United 
States  to  support  English  mis-rule  and  Irish  ruin  in  Ire- 
land. It  is,  therefore,  the  interest  of  the  United  States 
as  well  as  of  Ireland  that  England  should  cease  to  make 
laws  for  Ireland  and  collect  in  the  United  States  the  tax 
to  enforce  them. 


PEXAL  LAWS. 


"By  the  treaty  of  Limerick,  the  Irish  catholic  people 
stipulated  for  and  obtained  the  pledge  of  "the  faith  and 
honor  "  of  the  English  crown,  for  the  equal  protection  by 
law  of  their  properties  and  their  liberties  with  all  other 
subjects — and  in  particular  for  the  free  and  unfettered  ex- 
ercise of  their  religion.  The  Irish  in  every  respect  per- 
formed with  scrupulous  accuracy  the  stipulations  on  their 
part  of  the  Treaty  of  Limerick.  That  treaty  was  totally 
violated  by  the  British  Government  the  moment  it  was 
perfectly  safe  to  violate  it.  That  violation  was  perpe- 
trated by  the  enactment  of  a  code  of  the  most  dexterous 
but  atrocious  severity  that  ever  stained  the  annals  of  leg- 
islation. Let  me  select  a  few  instances  of  the  barbarity 
with  which  the  Treaty  of  Limerick  was  violated,  under 
these  heads: 

First — PROPERTY. 

Every  Catholic  was,  by  act  of  Parliament,  deprived  of 
the  power  of  settling  a  jointure  on  any  Catholic  wife,  or 
charging  his  lands  with  any  provision  for  his  daughters,  or 
disposing  by  will  of  his  landed  property.  On  his  death 
the  law  divided  his  lands  equally  amongst  his  sons. 

All  the  relations  of  private  life  were  thus  violated.  If 
the  wife  of  a  Catholic  declared  herself  a  Protestant,  the 
law  enabled  her  not  only  to  compel  her  husband  to  give 
her  a  separate  maintenance,  but  to  transfer  to  her  the 
custody  and  guardianship  of  all  the  children. 

Thus  the  wife  was  encouraged  and  empowered  success- 
fully to  rebel  against  her  husband. 

If  the   eldest  son  of  a  Catholic  father  at  any  age,  how- 
9  (129) 


130         VIOLATION   OF   THE    TREATY   OF   LIMERICK. 

ever  young,  declared  himself  a  Protestant,  he  thereby 
made  his  father  a  tenant  for  life,  deprived  the  father  of 
all  power  to  sell  or  dispose  of  his  estate,  and  such  Protes- 
tant son  became  entitled  to  an  absolute  dominion  and 
ownership  of  the  estate. 

Thus  the  eldest  son  was  encouraged,  and  indeed, 
bribed  by  the  law  to  rebel  against  his  father. 

If  any  other  child  beside  the  eldest  son  declared  itself, 
at  any  age,  a  Protestant,  such  child  at  once  escaped  the 
control  of  its  father  and  was  entitled  to  a  maintenance 
out  of  the  father's  property. 

Thus  the  law  encouraged  every  child  to  rebel  against 
its  father. 

If  any  Catholic  purchased  for  money  any  estate  in 
land,  any  Protestant  was  empowered  by  law  to  take  away 
that  estate  from  the  Catholic,  and  to  enjoy  it  without  pay- 
ing one  shilling  of  the  purchase  money. 

This  was  English  law  in  Ireland.  The  Catholic  paid 
the  money,  whereupon  the  Protestant  took  the  estate  and 
the  Catholic 'lost  both  money  and  estate. 

If  any  Catholic  got  an  estate  in  land  by  marriage,  by 
the  gift  or  by  the  will  of  a  relation  or  friend,  any  Pro- 
testant could  by  law  take  the  estate  from  the  Catholic 
and  enjoy  it  himself. 

If  any  Catholic  took  a  lease  of  a  farm  of  land  as  tenant 
at  a  rent  for  a  life  or  lives,  or  for  any  longer  terra  than 
thirty-one  years,  any  Protestant  could  by  law  take  the 
farm  from  the  Catholic,  and  enjoy  the  benefit  of  the  lease. 

If  any  Catholic  took  a  farm  by  lease  for  a  term  not  ex- 
ceeding thirty-one  years,  as  he  might  still  by  law  have 
done,  and  by  his  labor  and  industry  raised  the  value  of 
the  land,  so  as  to  yield  a  profit  equal  to  one-third  of  the 
rent,  any  Protestant  might  then  by  law  evict  the  Catholic 
and  enjoy  for  the  residue  of  the  term  the  fruit  of  the  labor 
and  industry  of  the  Catholic. 

If  any  Catholic  had  a  horse  worth  more  than  five  pounds, 
any  Protestant  tendering  five  pounds  to  the  Catholic 
owner,  was  by  law  entitled  to  take  the  horse,  though  worth 
fifty  or  one  hundred  pounds,  and  to  keep  it  as  his  own. 

If  any  Catholic,  being  the  owner  of  a  horse  worth  more 


THE   PENAL   LAWS.  131 

than  fivo  pounds,  concealed  his  horse  from  any  Protestant, 
the  Catholic,  for  the  crime  of  concealing  his  own  horse, 
was  liable  to  be  punished  by  an  imprisonment  of  three 
months,  and  a  fine  of  three  times  the  value  of  the  horse, 
whatever  that  might  be. 

So  much  for  the  laws  regulating,  by  act  of  parliament, 
the  property — or  rather  plundering  by  due  course  of  law 
the  property — of  the  Catholic. 

I  notice 

Secondly — EDUCATION. 

If  a  Catholic  kept  a  school,  or  taught  any  person,  Pro- 
testant or  Catholic,  any  species  of  literature  or  science, 
such  teacher  was,  for  the  crime  of  teaching,  punishable  by 
law  by  banishment,  and  if  he  returned  from  banishment 
he  was  subject  to  be  hanged  as  a  felon. 

If  a  Catholic,  whether  a  child  or  adult,  attended,  in 
Ireland,  a  school  kept  by  a  Catholic,  or  was  privately  in- 
structed by  a  Catholic,  such  Catholic  although  a  child  in 
its  early  infancy,  incurred  a  forfeiture  of  all  its  property, 
present  or  future. 

If  a  Catholic  child,  however  young,  was  sent  to  a  for- 
eign country  for  education,  such  infant  child  incurred  a 
similar  penalty — that  is,  a  forfeiture  of  all  right  to  property, 
present  or  prospective. 

If  any  person  in  Ireland  made  any  remittance  of  money 
or  goods  for  the  maintenance  of  any  Irish  child  educated 
in  a  foreign  country,  such  person  incurred  a  similar  for- 
feiture. 

Thirdly — PERSONAL  DISABILITIES. 

The  law  rendered  every  Catholic  incapable  of  holding 
a  commission  in  the  army  or  navy,  or  even  to  be  a  pri- 
vate soldier,  unless  he  solemnly  abjured  hisVeligion. 

The  law  rendered  every  Catholic  incapable  of  holding 
any  office  whatsoever  of  honor  or  emolument  in  the  State. 
The  exclusion  was  universal. 

A  Catholic  had  no  legal  protection  for  life  or  liberty. 
He  could  not  be  a  Judge,  Grand  Juror,  Sheriff,  Sub-sher- 
iff, Master  in  Chancery,  Six  Clerk,  Barrister,  Attorney, 


132  THE   PENAL   LAWS. 

Agent  or  Solicitor,  or  Seneschal  of  any  manor,  or  even 
gamekeeper  to  a  private  gentleman. 

A  Catholic  could  not  be  a  member  of  any  corporation, 
and  Catholics  were  precluded  by  law  from  residence  iu 
some  corporate  towns. 

Catholics  were  deprived  of  all  right  of  voting  for  mem- 
bers of  the  Commons  House  of  Parliament. 

Catholic  Peers  were  deprived  of  their  right  to  sit  or 
vote  in  the  House  of  Lords. 

Almost  all  these  personal  disabilities  were  equally  en- 
forced by  law  against  any  Protestant  who  married  a  Cath- 
olic wife,  or  whose  child  was  educated  as  a  Catholic,  al- 
though against  his  consent. 

Fourthly — RELIGION. 

To  teach  the  Catholic  religion  was  a  transportable 
felony;  to  con  vert  a  Protestant  to  the  Catholic  faith  was 
a  capital  offense,  punishable  as  an  act  of  treason. 

To  be  a  Catholic  Archbishop  or  Bishop,  or  exercise  any 
ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  whatsoever  in  the  Catholic 
church  in  Ireland,  was  punishable  by  transportation ; — to 
return  from  such  transportation  was  an  act  of  high  trea- 
son, punishable  by  being  hanged,  disembowelled  alive,  and 
afterwards  quartered. 

After  this  enumeration,  will  you,  Illustrious  Lady,  be 
pleased  to  recollect  that  each  and  every  of  these  laws, 
was  a  palpable  and  direct  violation  of  a  solemn  treaty 
to  which  the  faith  and  honor  of  the  British  Crown  was 
pledged,  and  the  justice  of  the  English  nation  unequivo- 
cally engaged? 

There  never  yet  was  such  a  horrible  code  of  persecu- 
tion invented — so  cruel,  so  cold-blooded,  calculating,  ema- 
ciating, universal  as  this  legislation,  which  the  Irish-Or- 
ange faction' the  Shaws,  the  Lefroys,  the  Verners  of  the 
day  did  invent  and  enact,  a  code  exalted  to  the  utmost 
height  of  infamy,  by  the  fact,  that  it  was  enacted  in  the 
basest  violation  of  a  solemn  engagement  and  deliberate 
treaty.  It  is  not  possible  for  me  to  describe  that  code  in 
adequate  language;  it  almost  surpassed  the  eloquence  of 
Burke  to  do  so.  "  It  had."  as  Burke  described  it —  "  it 


1 
IGNORANCE   ENFORCED    BY   STATUTE.  133 

had  a  vicious  perfection — it  was  a  complete  system,  full 
of  coherence  and  consistency;  well-digested  and  well- 
disposed  in  all  its  parts.  It  was  a  machine  of  wise  and 
elaborate  contrivance,  and  well  fitted  for  the  oppression, 
impoverishment  and  degredation  of  a  people,  and  the  de- 
basement in  them  of  human  nature  itself,  as  ever  pro- 
ceeded from  the  perverted  ingenuity  of  man. 

This  code  prevented  the  accumulation  of  property,  and 
punished  industry  as  a  crime.  Was  there  ever  such  leg-  . 
islation  in  any  other  country,  Christian  or  Pagan?  But 
this  is  not  all;  because  the  party  who  inflicted  this  hor- 
rible code,  actually  reproached  the  Irish  people  with  will- 
ful and  squalid  poverty . 

This  code  enforced  ignorance  by  statute  law,  and  pun- 
ished the  acquisition  of  knowledge  as  felony.  Is  this 
credible?  Yet  it  is  true.  But  that  is  not  all;  for  the 
party  that  thus  persecuted  learning,  reproached  and  still 
reproach  the  Irish  people  icith  ignorance.''''  The  above 
brief  and  incomplete  epitome  of  this  shameful  Draconian 
code  of  English  legislation  for  Ireland  is  taken  from  a 
Memoir  on  Ireland,  Native  and  Saxon,  by  Daniel  O'Con- 
n ell,  M.  P.,  humbly  inscribed  to  her  Most  Gracious 
Majesty,  the  Queen  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  Feb. 
1st,  1813. 

For  a  few  years  after  the  Treaty  of  Limerick  had  been 
solemnly  ratified,  Sarsfield,  with  the  bulk  of  his  army  hav- 
ing entered  into  the  service  of  France,  the  Irish  enjoyed  a 
season  of  comparative  quiet,  prosperity  and  peace.  There 
was  a  tacit  toleration  of  Catholic  worship,  though  it  was 
against  the  law;  priests  were  not  hunted,  though  by  law 
they  were  felons;  and  for  a  short  time  it  appeared  as 
though  the  Protestant  party  would  content  itself  with  the 
forfeiture  of  the  rich  estates  of  the  exiles,  and  the  exclu- 
sion of  Catholics  from  the  professions,  public  offices, 
trades  and  guilds  of  trades,  and  from  the  corporate  bod- 
ies of  the  towns.  This  was  the  extent  of  the  toleration 
accorded  to  the  prescribed  Catholics  in  the  early  years 
of  William's  reign.  Though  they  were  not  debarred  by 
express  statute  from  sitting  or  voting  in  Parliament,  it 
was  enacted  that  "  no  Catholic  shall  be  entitled  to  vote  at 


THE    CATHOLICS   DISARMED. 

the  election  of  any  member  to  rerve  in  Parliament  as  a 
knight,  citizen,  or  burger;  or  at  the  election  of  any  mag- 
istrate for  any  city  or  any  town  corporate,  any  statute, 
law  or  usage  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding."  Not  only 
did  William  give  his  royal  sanction  to  the  laws  of  exclu- 
sion made  by  his  Parliament  of  1692,  but  he  did  not  make 
any  proposal  or  any  effort  to  gain  for  the  Irish  Catholics 
those  further  securities  "  as  engaged  by  the  Treaty  of 
Limerick,  which  were  intended  to  protect  from  all  dis- 
turbance in  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion."  Yet  this 
Avas  but  a  trifling  matter  in  comparison  to  the  acts 
he  gave  effect  to  in  the  following  Parliament,  which  was 
convened  in  1695.  One  of  the  first  enactments  of  this 
Parliament  is  entitled  "  An  Act  for  the  better  securing  the 
Government  by  disarming  the  Papists."  "By  this  act," 
says  Mitchel,  in  his  History  of  Ireland,  p.  14,  "  All  Cath- 
olics within  the  Kingdom  of  Ireland  were  required  to  dis- 
cover and  deliver  up  by  a  certain  day,  to  the  justices  or 
civil  officers,  all  their  arms  and  ammunition.  After  that 
day  search  might  be  made  in  their  houses  for  concealed 
arms  and  ammunition,  and  any  two  justices,  or  a  mayor 
or  sheriff,  might  grant  the  search-warrant,  and  compel 
any  Catholic  suspected  of  having  concealed  arms,  etc.,  to 
appear  before  them  and  answer  under  oath  "  (7th  William 
III,  c.  5.)  The  punishments  were  to  be  fine  and  impris- 
onment, or  at  the  discretion  of  the  court,  the  pillory  and 
whipping.  It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  minute  and 
curious  tyranny  to  which  this  Statute  gave  rise  in  every 
parish  of  the  island.  Especially  in  districts  where  there 
was  an  armed  yeomanry  exclusively  Protestant,  it  fared 
ill  with  any  Catholic  who  fell,  for  any  reason,  under  the 
displeasure  of  his  formidable  neighbors.  -Any  pretext 
was  sufficient  for  pointing  him  out  to  suspicion.  Any 
neighboring  magistrate  might  visit  him  at  any  hour  of  the 
night,  and  search  his  bed  for  arms.  No  Papist  was  safe 
from  suspicion  who  had  any  money  to  pay  in  fines;  and 
woe  to  the  Papist  who  had  a  handsome  daughter."  This 
enactment,  under  various  new  forms  and  names,  is,  and 
has  been  the  law  in  Ireland  from  that  day  to  the  present 
time. 


WILLIAM'S  BREACH  OF  FAITH.  135 

"It  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  any  method  of  de- 
grading human  nature  more  effectual  than  the  prohibi- 
tion of  arms;  but  this  Parliament  resolved  to  employ 
still  another  way.  This  was  to  prohibit  education. 
"King  William  was  all  this  time  busily  engaged  in  carry- 
ing on  the  war  against  Louis  XIV,  and  his  mind  was 
profoundly  occupied  about  the  destinies  of  Europe.  He 
seems  to  have  definitively  given  up  Ireland,  to  be  dealt 
with  by  the  Ascendency  party  at  its  pleasure.  Yet  he  had 
received  the  benefit  of  the  capitulation  of  Limerick  ;  he 
had  engaged  his  royal  faith  to  its  observance  ;  he  had 
further  engaged  that  he  would  endeavor  to  procure  said 
Roman  Catholics  such  further  security  as  might  preserve 
them  from  any  disturbance  on  account  of  their  religion. 
And  he  not  only  did  not  endeavor  to  procure  any  such 
further  security,  but  he  gave  his  royal  assent  to  every 
one  of  th.se  acts  of  Parliament,  carefully  depriving  them 
of  such  securities  as  they  had,  and  opposing  new  and 
grievous  oppressions  upon  the  account  of  their  said  re- 
ligion." 

"It  is  expressly  on  account  of  this  shameful  breach  of 
faith  on  the  part  of  the  King  that  Orange  squires  and 
gentlemen,  from  that  day  to  this,  have  been  enthusiasti- 
cally toasting  'the  glorious,  pious  and  immortal  memory 
of  the  great  and  good  King  William.'  " 

In  the  meantime  Sarsfield  and  .the  "  Irish  Brigade,  in 
the  service  of  France,  were  winning  glory  and  fame,  and 
multitudes  of  young  Irishmen  were  quitting  their  own 
land,  where  they  were  regarded  as  strangers  and  treated 
as  outlaws,  to  find  under  the  banners  of  France,  Austria 
and  Spain  opportunities  lor  obtaining  distinction  they 
could  not  hope  to  win  on  their  own  soil.  The  Abbe  Mac 
Geoghegan,  who  was  chaplain  of  the  Irish  Brigade  in 
France,  from  researches  made  in  the  French  War  De- 
partment, shows  that  from  the  arrival  of  the  Irish  troops 
in  France,  in  1691  to  the  year  1745,  the  year  of  Fonte- 
noy,  more  than  four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  Irishmen 
died  in  the  service  of  France  alone." 

"The  statement,"  says  Mitchel,  "may  seem  almost 
incredible,  especially  as  Spain  and  Austria  had  also  their 


136       THE    IRISH    EXILES    SEEK    MILITARY    SERVICE. 

share  of  our  military  exiles;  but,  certain  it  is,  the  expa- 
triation of  the  very  best  and  choicest  of  the  Irish  people 
was  now  on  a  very  large  scale;  and  the  remaining'  popu- 
lation, deprived  of  their  natural  chiefs,  became  still  more 
helpless  in  the  hands  of  their  enemies." 

From  the  time  of  the  Munster  plantation  by  Elizabeth, 
numerous  exiles  had  taken  service  in  the  Spanish  army. 
There  were  Irish  regiments  serving  in  the  low  countries. 
The  Prince  of  Orange  declared  these  were  born  soldiers; 
and  Henry  IV,  of  France,  publicly  called  Hugh  O'Neill, 
the  third  soldier  of  the  a^e,  and  he  said  there  was  no  na- 
tion made  better  troops  than  the  Irish  when  well  drilled. 
Sir  John  Norris,  who  had  served  in  many  countries,  said 
he  knew  no  nation  where  there  was  so  few  fools  or  cow- 
ards. Agents  from  the  King  of  Spain,  King  of  Poland, 
and  the  Prince  de  Conde,  were  now  contending  for  the 
services  of  Irish  troops.  Don  Rickard  White,  in  May 
1652,  shipped  7,000  batches  from  Waterford,  Kinsale, 
Gal  way,  Limerick,  and  Bantry,  for  the  King  of  Spain. 
Col.  Christopher  Mays  got  liberty  in  September,  1052,  to 
beat  his  drum  to  raise  3,000  for  the  same  King.  Lord 
Muskerry  took  5,000  to  the  King  of  Poland.  In  July, 
1654,  3,500,  commanded  by  Col.  Edward  Dwyer,  went 
to  serve  the  Prince  de  Conde.  Sir  Walter  Dungan  and 
others  got  liberty  to  beat  their  drums  in  different  garri- 
sons to  a  rallying  of  thejr  men  that  laid  down  their  arms 
in  order  to  a  rendezvous,  and  to  depart  for  Spain.  They 
got  permission  to  march  their  men  together  to  the  differ- 
ent ports,  their  pipers  playing  "  Ha  til,  Ha  til,  Ha  til,  me 
trelidh." — We  return  no  more,  we  return  no  more.  "  It 
is  the  same  tune  with  which  departing  Highlanders  usu- 
ally bid  farewell  to  their  native  shores.  Between  1G51 
and  1654,  thirty-four  thousand  (of  whom  few  ever  saw 
their  loved  native  land  again)  were  transported  to  foreign 
parts."  Prendergast,  pp.  78-9;  who  also  quotes  Sir  W. 
Petty's  "Political  Anatomy,"  published  in  1672,  "The 
chiefest  and  eminentest  of  the  nobility  and  many  of  the 
gentry  have  taken  conditions  from  the  King  of  Spain, 
and  have  transported  40,000  of  the  most  active  spirited 
men,  most  acquainted  with  the  dangers  and  discipline  of 
war." 


THE   POPERY   LAWS   CAUSE   DEEP   DISTRESS.         137 

Matthew  O'Connor,  commenting  on  the  Irish  people's 
sufferings  from  the  effects  of  the  Penal  Laws,  gives  the 
fpllowing  mournful  account,  an  account  the  truthfulnes 
of  which  is  fully  confirmed  by  other  veracious  historians. 

"  The  Popery  laws  had,  in  the  course  of  half  a  century, 
consummated  the  ruin  of  the  lower  orders.  Their  habi- 
tations, visages,  dress  and  despondency  exhibited  the  deep 
distress  of  a  people  ruled  with  the  iron  sceptre  of  con- 
quest. The  lot  of  the  negro  slave  compared  with  that  of 
the  Irish  helot  was  happiness  itself.  Both  were  subject 
to  the  capricious  cruelty  of  mercenary  task-masters  and 
unfeeling  proprietors  ;  but  the  negro  slave  was  well  fed, 
well  clothed  and  comfortably  lodged.  The  Irish  peasant 
was  half  starved,  half  naked  and  half  housed — the  canopy 
of  heaven  being  often  the  only  roof  to  the  mud-built  walls 
of  his  cabin.  The  fewness  of  negroes  gave  the  West  In- 
dia proprietor  an  interest  in  the  preservation  of  his  slave; 
a  superabundance  of  helots  superseded  all  interest  in  the 
comfort  or  preservation  of  the  Irish  cottier.  The  code 
had  ^eradicated  every  feeling  of  humanity,  and  avarice 
sought  to  stifle  every  sense  of  justice.  That  avarice  was 
generated  by  prodigality,  the  hereditary  vice  of  the  Irish 
gentry,  and  manifested  itself  in  exhorbitant  rack-rent 
wrung  from  their  tenantry,  and  in  the  low  wages  paid  for 
their  labor.  Since  the  days  of  King  William,  the  price 
of  the  necessaries  of  life  had  trebled,  and  the  day's  hire — 
fourpence — had  continued  stationary. 

"The  oppression  of  tithes  was  little  inferior  to  the  tyran- 
ny of  rack-rents;  while  the  great  landholder  was  nearly 
exempt  from  the  pressure,  a  tenth  of  the  produce  of  the 
cottier's  labor  was  exacted  for  the  purposes  of  a  religious 
establishment  from  which  he  derived  no  benefit.  .  .  .  The 
peasant  had  no  resource:  not  trade  or  manufactures — 
they  were  discouraged;  not  emigration  to  France — the 
vigilance  of  the  government  precluded  foreign  enlist- 
ment; not  emigration  to  America — his  poverty  precluded 
the  means.  Ireland,  the  land  of  his  birth,  became  his 
prison,  where  he  counted  the  days  of  his  misery  in  the 
deepest  despondency." 

Is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  conspiracies,  secret  associ- 


138  PERSONS   OF    THE   FIVE   BLOODS. 

ations  and  insurrections  were  the  result;  or  should  the 
wonder  be  that  such  commotions  were  less  universal  and 
prolonged?  But  what  can  a  disarmed,  impoverished 
people  effect  of  themselves  alone? 

Sir  John  Davies,  who  was  for  many  years  Attorney- 
General  in  Ireland,  to  that  pragmatical  and  despicable 
tyrant,  James  the  First,  has  been  quoted  several  times  in 
this  work  as  an  undoubted  authority,  as  he  must  be  al- 
lowed to  be,  as  to  the  mode  in  which  the  conqueror  disposed 
of  the  country  and  treated  the  people.  In  his  Historical 
Relations,  Davies  says:  UA11  Ireland  was  by  Henry  II 
cantonized  among  ten  of  the  English  nation,  namely :  Earl 
of  Pembroke,  or  Strongbow,  Robert  Fitz  Stephens,  Miles 
de  Cogan,  Philip  Bruce,  Sir  Hugh  De  Lacey,  Sir  John 
de  Courcey,  William  Burke,  Fitz  Andelm,  Sir  Thomas  de 
Clare,  Otho  de  Grandison,  and  Robert  le  Poer,  and  though 
they  had  gained  possession  of  but  one-third  of  the  King- 
dom, yet  in  title  they  were  owners  and1  lords  of  all,  so  as 
nothing  was  left  to  be  granted  to  the  natives  !  !"  Henry 
afterwards  granted  a  special  charter,  conceding  the  bene- 
fit of  the  English  laws  to  five  Irish  families.  They  were 
called  in  pleading,  "  persons  of  the  five  bloods,"  de  quin- 
que  sanguinibua. 

"These  were  the  O'Neills,  of  Ulster;  O'Melachlins,  of 
Meath;  the  O'Connors,  of  Connaught;  the  O'Brien?,  of 
Thomond,  and  the  McMurroughs  of  Leinster." — [Davies' 
Hist.  Re!.,  p.  45. 

"  That  the  Irish  were  reputed  aliens,  appeareth  by  sun- 
dry records,  wherein  judgments  are  demanded,  if  they 
shall  be  answered  in  actions  brought  by  them."  Sir  John 
Davies,  in  his  Historical  Tracts,  p.  78,  relates: 

"  In  the  Common  Plea  Rolls,  of  28  Edw.  Ill,  (which 
are  yet  preserved  in  the  castle  of  Dublin)  this  case  is  ad- 
judged. Simon  Ncale  brought  an  action  against  Wil- 
liam Newburgh  for  breaking  his  close  in  Clondalkiii 
Co.  Dublin:  defendant  doth  plead  that  the  plaintiff  is 
Hibernicus  et  non  de  quinque  sanc/uinibi<s  (an  Irishman 
and  not  of  the  five  bloods),  and  dernandeth  judgment,  if 
he  shall  be  answered.  The  plaintiff  replieth  that  he  is  of 
the  five  bloods,  to  wit:  Of  the  O'Neills  of  Ulster,  who  by 


IRISHMEN'   HAD   NO    PROTECTION   UNDER   THE    LAW.    139 

the  grant  of  our  Lord,  the  King,  ought  to  enjoy  and  use 
the  English  liberties,  and  for  freemen  to  be  reputed  in 
law. 

"  The  defendant  rejoineth:  That  the  plaintiff  is  not  of 
the  O  Neills  of  Ulster,  nor  of  the  five  bloods;  and,  there- 
fore, they  are  at  issue,  which  being  found  for  the  plain- 
tiff, he  had  judgment  to  recover  his  damages  against  the 
defendant. 

Again  in  the  29th,  Edward  I,  before  the  Justices  in 
Oyer,  at  Drogheda,  Thomas  Le  Botteler  brought  an  action 
of  detenue  against  Robert  de  Almain,  for  certain  goods  : 
u  The  defendant  pleadeth  :  That  he  is  not  bound  to  an- 
swer the  plaintiff  for  this,  that  the  plaintiff  is  an  Irishman 
and  not  of  free  blood. 

"And  the  aforesaid  Thomas  says  that  he  is  an  English- 
man, and  this  he  prays  may  be  inquired  of  by  the  coun- 
try. Therefore,  let  a  jury  come,  and  so  forth  ;  and  the 
jurors,  on  their  oath,  say  that  the  aforesaid  Thomas  is  an 
Englishman.  Therefore  it  is  adjudged  that  he  do  receive 
his  damages." 

Thus  these  records  demonstrate  that  the  Irishman  had 
no  protection  for  his  property,  because,  if  the  plaintiff  in 
either  case  had  been  declared  to  be  an  Irishman,  the  ac- 
tion would  be  barred,  though  the  injury  was  not  denied 
upon  the  records  to  have  been  committed.  The  validity 
of  the  plea  in  point  of  law  was  also  admitted,  so  that,  no 
matter  what  injury  might  be  committed  upon  the  real  or 
personal  property  of  an  Irishman,  the  courts  of  law  afford- 
ed him  no  species  of  remedy. 

But  this  absence  of  protection  was  not  confined  to  prop- 
erty ;  the  Irishman  was  equally  unprotected  in  his  per- 
son and  his  life.  The  following  quotation  from  Davies' 
Hist.  Tracts,  page  82,  puts  this  beyond  doubt : 

"  The  real  Irish  were  not  only  accounted  aliens,  but 
enemies,  and  altogether  out  of  the  protection  of  the  law  ; 
so  as  it  was  no  capital  offence  to  kill  them  ;  and  this  is 
manifest  by  many  records.  At  a  jail  delivery  at  Water- 
ford,  before  John  Wogau,  Lord  Justice  of  Ireland,  the 
4th  of  Edw.  II,  we  find  it  recorded  among  the  pleas  of 
the  crown  of  that  year,  that  Robert  Wallace,  being  ar- 


140          INDICTMENT   FOK   KILLING   AN   IKISIIMA.N. 

raigned  of  the  death  of  John,  the  son  of  Juor  MacGil- 
lemory.  by  him  felonously  slain,  and  so  forth,  came  and 
well  acknowledged  that  he  slew  the  aforesaid  John,  yet 
he  said,  that  by  his  slaying  he  could  not  commit  felony, 
because  he  said  that  the  aforesaid  John  was  a  mere  Irish- 
man, and  not  of  the  five  bloods,  and  so  forth  ;  and  he 
further  said,  that  inasmuch  as  the  lord  of  the  aforesaid 
John,  whose  Irishman  the  aforesaid  John  was,  on  the  day 
on  which  he  was  slain  .had  sought  payment  for  the  afore- 
said slaying  of  the  aforesaid  John  as  his  Irishman,  he, 
the  said  Robert,  was  ready  to  answer  for  such  payment 
as  was  just  in  that  behalf.  And  thereupon  a  certain 
John  Le  Poer  came,  and  for  our  Lord  the  King  said  that 
the  aforesaid  John,  the  son  of  JuorMacGillemory,  and  his 
ancestors  of  that  sur-name,  from  the  time  of  our  Lord 
Henry  Fitz  Empress,  heretofore  Lord  of  Ireland,  the 
ancestors  of  our  Lord  the  now  King,  was  in  Ireland,  the 
law  of  England  thence  to  the  present  day,  of  right  had 
and  ought  to  have,  and  according  to  that  law  ought  to  be 
judged  and  to  inherit  ;  and  so  pleaded  the  character  of 
denization  granted  to  the  Ostmen,  all  of  which  appeareth 
at  large  in  the  aforesaid  record,  wherein  we  may  note 
that  the  killing  of  an  Irishman  was  not  punished  by  our 
law  as  manslaughter,  which  is  felony  and  capital,  for  the 
law  did  not  protect  his  life  nor  avenge  his  death  but  by 
a  fine  or  pecuniary  punishment. 

There  is  another  case  of  record  tried  before  the  same 
Judge  in  4th  Edwd.  II,  which  still  more  distinctly  shows 
the  perfect  right  claimed  and  enjoyed  by  the  English  in 
Ireland,  of  slaughtering  with  impunity  "  the  mere  Irish." 

"  William  Fitz  Roger,  being  arraigned  for  the  death  of 
Roger  de  Cantelon,  by  him  feloniously  slain,  comes  and 
says  that  he  could  not  commit  felony  by  such  killing, 
because  the  aforesaid  Roger  was  an  Irishman,  and  not  of 
free  blood.  And  he  further  says  that  the  said  Roger  was 
of  the  surname  of  O'Hederiscal,  and  not  of  the  surname  of 
Cantelon;  s.n-\  of  this  he  puts  himself  on  the  country,  and 
so  forth.  And  the  jury  upon  their  oath  say,  that  the 
aforesaid  Roger  was  an  Irishman  of  the  surname  of 
O'Hederiscal,  and  for  an  Irishman,  was  reputed  all  the 


JAMES   II   OUTLAWED   IN   ENGLAND.  J41 

days  of  his  life;  and  therefore  the  said  William,  as  far  as 
regards  the  aforesaid  felony,  is  acquitted.  But  inasmuch 
as  the  aforesaid  Roger  O'Hcderiscal  was  an  Irishman  of 
our  lord  the  King,  the  aforesaid  William  was  re-com- 
mitted to  jail,  until  he  shall  find  pledges  to  pay  five  marks 
to  our  lord  the  King,  for  the  value  of  the,  said  Irishman" 
When  James  the  Second  was  outlawed  in  England  and 
had  to  flee  for  his  life,  he  met  with  a  hearty  welcome 
from  the  Irish  people.  They  had,  to  be  sure,  little  reason 
to  have  much  regard,  respect,  or  confidence  in  any  of  the 
Stuart  family.  But  James'  case  appealed  to  their  every 
prejudice,  to  their  every  feeling.  He  was  hounded  by 
the  English  because  he  had  dared  to  have  the  courage 
of  his  convictions  and  profess  the  Catholic  faith — and 
had  not  the  Irish  people  suffered  for  the  self-same  reason? 
He  was  the  victim  of  a  daughter's  unnatural  conduct,  and 
of  the  ingratitude  of  a  man  who  was  at  the  same  time  his 
nephew  and  son-in-law.  More  than  all,  and  above  all — 
aye,  conceal  it  as  the  historians  and  politicians  may — 
he  had  incurred  the  hatred  of  that  perfidious  and  brutal 
race  whom  the  Irish  have  hated,  hate  now,  and  will 
hate  so  long  as  warm  blood  pulsates  in  their  veins,  the 
cold-blooded,  calculating  and  mercenary  English.  They 
(the  English)  had  adopted  the  phlegmatic  Dutchman 
as  their  sovereign.  The  Irish  adopted  the  Scotchman 
as  theirs.  Many  Irish  historians  claim  credit  for  the 
Irish  on  account  of  their  loyalty  on  this  occasion.  This 
is  a  mistake;  the  Irish  were  not  loyal  and  never  will  be 
loyal  to  a  monarch  not  of  their  own  choosing.  They  took 
up  the  cause  of  James  because  he  was  the  representative 
of  the  opposition  to  the  dominant  party  in  England. 
They  would  have  supported  William,  Prince  of  Orange, 
with  as  much  zeal — and  certainly  to  better  purpose — did 
they  believe  that  he  equally  represented  hostility  to  Eng- 
land. And  surely,  brave  men  never  drew  a  sword  or 
shook  a  bridle  rein  for  a  more  worthless  and  cowardly 
poltroon  than  James  the  Second.  The  name  by  which 
he  is  to  this  day  known  in  every  Irish  cabin  but  faintly 
expresses  the  contempt  of  the  Irish  for  the  man  who  fled 
precipitately  from  the  Boyne,  taking  with  him  the  best 


142.  THE    ARMIES    OF    WILLIAM   AXD   JAMES. 

regiment  of  the  Irish  soldiers.  Lady  Tryconnell's  taunt, 
that  he  beat  all  the  other  runaways  in  the  race  from  the 
Boyne,  was  well-deserved.  The  exclamation  of  the  Irish 
officer  to  the  English  general  after  the  battle:  "  Exchange 
kings  with  us  and  we  will  fight  the  battle  over  again," 
fully  expresses  the  feelings  of  those,  who  fought  and  lost 
on  that  dreadful  day  at  the  Boyne,  and  who,  though  few 
and  faint,  were  fearless  still." 

There  is  little  need  in  a  work  like  this  to  go  into  the 
details  of  the  Williamite  wars  in  Ereland,  but  that  the  Eng- 
lish romancist,  sometimes  misnamed  historian  Macauley, 
has  totally  misrepresented  the  conduct  of  the  Irish  sol- 
diers on  that  occasion.  The  English  won  the  battle  of 
the  Boyne,  not  by  superior  powers,  but  by  superior  gen- 
eralship. The  army  of  William  was  for  its  numbers  the 
best  appointed  ever  placed  on  a  field  of  battle;  his  prin- 
cipal generals  were  veterans  in  many  "  foreign  wars 
tried";  there  were  the  Swiss,  the  Danes,  the  Dutch,  the 
Hugenots,  veterans  of  every  European  war.  William 
was  well  supplied  with  cannon,  James  had  scarely  any. 
What  had  James  to  oppose  to  them?  A  few  regiments  of 
French  soldiers,  some  raw  Irish  levies,  and  a  goodly  and 
gallant  array  of  Irish  horse,  led  by  a  brave  general,  through 
whose  veins  it  was  hard  to  believe  any  of  the  blood  of 
James  flowed — the  gallant  young  Duke  of  Berwick,  and 
some  by  a  jnore  illustrious  leader  still,  who  afterwards 
proved  "  what  Irishmen  can  do  " — Patrick  Sarsfield,  Earl 
of  Lucan.  Mr.  A.  M.  Sullivan's  description  of  the  battle 
of  the  Boyne  is  the  best  yet  written,  and  is  here  given. 
After  describing  the  position  of  either  army  he  says  : 
"In  accordance  with  the  plan  of  battle  arranged  the  pre- 
vious night,  the  first  move  on  William's  side  was  the 
march  of  10,000  men  with  five  pieces  of  artillery  for  the 
bridge  of  Slane  ....  to  turn  the  flank  of  James'  army. 

SUPERIORITY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  ALLIED  FORCES. 

The  infantry  portion  of  his  force  crossing  at  Slane  .  .  came 
upon  Sir  Neal  O'Neill  and  his  500  dragoons  on  the  ex- 
treme left  of  the  Jacobite  position.  For  fully  an  hour 
did  the  gallant  O'Neill  hold  this  force  in  check,  he  him- 


THE   BATTLE   AT   THE   BOYNE.  143 

self  falling  mortally  wounded  in  the  thick  of  the  fight. 
But  soon  the  Danish  horse  crossing  at  Ross-na-ree,  the 
full  force  of  ten  thousand  men  advanced  upon  the  Jacob- 
ite flank.  Just  at  this  moment  there  arrived,  however,  a 
force  of  French  and  Swiss  infantry  and  some  Irish  horse 
under  Lauzun,  who  so  skillfully  posted  his  checking 
force  on  the  slope  of  a  hill  with  a  marsh  in  front,  that 
Douglas  and  Schomberg,  notwithstanding  their  enormous 
numerical  superiority,  did  not  venture  to  attack 
until  they  had  obtained  an  additional  supply  of 
troops.  Then  only  did  the  infantry  advance,  while 
the  cavalry,  amounting  to  twenty-four  squadrons, 
proceeded  round  the  bog,  completely  overlapping 
and  flanking  tie  Jacobite  left  wing.  Meanwhile  Schom- 
berg the  elder,  in  command  of  the  Williamite  cen- 
tre, finding  that  his  son  and  Douglas  had  the  Jacobites 
well  engaged,  gave  the  word  for  the  passage-of  the  fords. 
Tyrconnell's  regiment  of  foot-guards,  with  other  Irish 
foot  (only  a  few  of  them  being  armed  with  muskets.) 
occupied  the  ruined  breastwork,  fences  and  the  ruined 
farm  houses  on  the  opposite  side;  having  some  cavalry 
drawn  up  beside  the  low  hills  close  by,  to  support  them. 
But  the  Williamites  had  a  way  for  emptying  these 
breastworks  and  clearing  the  bank  for  their  fording  par- 
ties. Fifty  pieces  of  cannon  swept  the  whole  of  the  Irish 
position  with  their  iron  storm.  Under  cover  of  this  tre- 
mendous fire,  to  which  the  Irish  had  not  a  single  field- 
piece  to  reply,  the  van  of  the  spendidly  appointed  infant- 
ry plunged  into  the  stream.  .  .  As  they  neared  the  south- 
ern bank  the  roar  of  cannon  ceased — a  breathless  pause 
of  suspense  ensued.  Then  a  wild  cheer  rung  from  the 
Irish  lines;  and  such  of  the  troops  as  had  guns  opened 
fire.  The  volley  was  utterly  ineffective.  The  Dutch 
Guards  were  the  first  to  the  bank,  where  they  instantly 
formed.  Here  they  were  charged  by  the  Irish  foot;  but 
before  the  withering  fire  of  the  cool  and  skillful  foreign 
veterans  these  raw  levies  were  cut  up  instantly  and 
driven  from  behind  the  fences. 


144  THE   BATTLE   AT   THE   BOYNE. 


SPLENDID  CHARGE  OF  THE  IEISH  CATALRY. 

Now,  however,  was  the  time  for  Hamilton,  at  the  head 
of  the  only  Irish  disciplined  force  on  the  field — the  horse 
— to  show  what  his  men  could  do.  The  ground  literally 
trembled  beneath  the  onset  of  this  splendid  force.  Irre- 
sistable  as  an  avalanche,  they  struck  the  third  battalion  of 
Dutch  Blues  while  yet  in  the  stream,  and  hurled  them 
back.  The  Hugenots  were  broken  through,  and  the 
Bran  den  burghers  turned  and  fled.  Schomberg,  on 
hearing  that  his  friend  Callemote,  commander  of  the  Huge- 
nots was  slain,  rushed  forward  with  a  chosen  body  of  the 
reserves,  and  "strove  to  rally  the  flying  'Hugenots." 
"Come  on,  come  on,  Messeers;  behold  your  persecutors," 
he  cried,  pointing  to  the  French  infantry  on  the  other 
bank.  "  Tyrconnell's  Irish  horse-guards  .  .  .  again 
broke  through  the  Huguenots,  cleaving  Schomberg's 
head  with  two  fearful  sabre  wounds,  and  lodging  a  bullet 
in  his  neck." 

"At  this  time  William,  at  the  head  of  some  5,000  of 
the  flower  of  his  cavalry,  .  .  .  disengaged  his  wounded 
arm  from  its  sling,  and  calling  aloud  to  his  troops  to  fol- 
low him,  plunged  boldly  into  the  stream.  William  and 
his  cavalry  reached  the  opposite  bank  with  difficulty; 
marshalling  his  force  with  great  celerity,  he  rushed  furi- 
ously on  the  Irish  right  flank,  commanded  by  the  young 
Duke  of  Berwick.  Both  bodies  of  horse  were  simul- 
taneously under  way.  As  they  n eared  each  other  the 
excitement  became  choking,  and  above  the  thunder  of  the 
horses'  feet  on  the  sward,  could  be  heard  bursting  from  a 
hundred  hearts  the  vehement  passionate  shouts  of  every 
troop  officer,  "Close — close  up;  for  God's  sake,  closer, 
closer!  On  they  came,  careering  like  the  whirlwind — and 
then!  What  a  crash!  Like  a  thunderbolt  the  Irish 
broke  clear  through  the  Williamites.  The  gazers  beheld 
the  white-plumed  form  of  young  Berwick  at  the  head  of 
the  Irish  horse,  far  into  the  middle  of  the  Williamitc 
mass;  and  soon,  with  a  shout — a  roar  that  rose  above  the 
din  of  battle — a  frantic  peal  of  exultation  and  vengeance, 
the  Irish  absolutely  swept  the  Dutch  and  Enmskillen 


THE    BATTLE   AT   TIIE   BOYNE.  145 

cavalry  down  the  slopes  upon  the  river.  The  Williamite 
centre  again  crossed  the  stream,  and  William  himself, 
having  been  reinforced  by  some  troops  of  infantry,  ad- 
vanced once  more  and  drove  the  Irish  back  to  Sheep  House, 
where  they  had  made  a  stand.  The  Enniskillens  turned 
and  fled.  William  tried  in  vain  to  rally  them,  but  to  no 
purpose.  The  Dutch  also  fled,  and  it  was  only  by  the 
utmost  exertions  of  Ginckel  that  the  retreat  did  not  be- 
come a  panic."  "  Berwick  and  Sheldon  pressed  their  foes 
with  resistless  energy — and  down  the  lane  leading  to 
Sheep  House  went  the  Williamite  horse  and  foot,  with  the 
Irish  cavalry  in  full  pursuit."  But  William's  left  having 
turned,  the  Irish  right  flank  came  up  and  occupied  the 
lane  before  mentioned,  while  the  Irish  were  driving  Wil- 
liam before  them.  The  Irish,  on  returningto  their  former 
position,  "  found  themselves  assailed  by  a  close  and  deadly 
tusilade  "  from  the  enemy.  Ginckel  fell  on  their  rear,  and 
William,  at  the  head  of  his  lately  beaten  troop  fell  on  the 
right,  and  the  "  overborne,  but  not  out-braved  heroes  re- 
treated to  Donore. 

The  soldier's  hope,  the  patriot's  zeal, 

Forever  dimmed,  forever  cross 't. 
Oh  !  who  can  say  what  heroes  feel, 
When  all  but  life  and  honor  's  lost. 

The  Irish  army  was  defeated  but  not  vanquished  ;  the 
cowardly  king  whiningly  regretted  that  all  was  over. 
The  Irish  officers  would  not  believe  in  submission.  They 
determined  to  retreat  into  Connaught  and  defend  the  line 
of  the  Shannon.  How  they  succeeded  is  well  known. 
Limerick  and  Athlone  were  the  rallying  points. 

Another  brave  stand  was  made  at  Athlone  and  after- 
wards at  Aughrim,  where  the  Irish  might  have  been  suc- 
cessful, but  for  the  jealousy  of  St.  Ruth  to  Sarsfield. 
Limerick  held  out  against  William  until  September,  1691. 
Favorable  conditions  of  capitulation  were  granted.  Sars- 
field, much  to  the  grief  of  his  brave  garrison,  accepted. 
The  soldiers  broke  their  swords  and  muskets  and  cried 
with  very  vexation.  The  treaty  of  Limerick  "broke  ere 
the  ink  wherewith  'twas  writ  could  dry"  was  agreed  on. 
The  English  bigots  and  the  Irish  malignants  would  not 
10 


146  ATHLONE  A:N*D  ANGHKIM. 

allow  William  to  carry  out  its  provisions.  William  was 
not  the  man  to  incur  the  loss  of  position  or  prestige  by 
any  mistaken  generosity.  The  Irish  soldiers,  the  "wild 
geese  "  went  "to  join  the  b:igade  in  the  wars  far  away." 
Brutal  penal  laws  were  enacted  to  extirpate  the  Irish 
Catholics. 

Among  the  poor, 

Or  on  the  moor, 
Were  hid  the  pious  and  the  true, 

While  traitor,  knave 
And  recreant  slave 

Had  riches,  rank  and  retinue. 

How  diiFerently  the  Irish  Catholics  would  have  treated 
their  Protestant  fellow-country  men  may  be  judged  from  the 
fact  that  the  "Catholic"  Parliament  which  met  in  Dublin 
in  1690,  and  which,  by  the  way,  was  not  wholly  Catholic, 
affirmed  the  right  of  all  persons  to  freedom  of  conscience, 
and  toleration  of  all  creeds. 

The  Irish  Catholics  could  well  say  to  their  Protestant 
oppressor,  in  after  years,  in  reference  to  these  facts — 

How  fared  it  that  season,  our  lords  and  our  masters, 

In  the  spring  of  our  freedom,  how  fared  it  with  you  ? 
Did  we  trample  your  faith  V 

Did  we  mock  your  disasters? 
We  gave  but  his  own  to  the  loyal  and  true; 

Ye  had  fallen;  'twas  a  season  of  tempest  and  troubles; 
But  against  ye  we  drew  not  the  knife  ye  had  drawn ; 

In  the  war-field  we  met;  but  your  prelates  and  nobles 
Stood  up  mid  the  Senate  in  ermine  and  lawn. 

"  An  event  befel  in  the  summer  of  1692,  which  deserves 
notice,"  says  Mitchel  in  his  history  of  Ireland.  "On  a 
July  morning,  when  the  Protestant  Parliament  in  Dublin 
was  devising  cunning  oaths  against  transubstantiation  and 
the  Invocation  of  Saints  to  drive  out  its  few  Catholic 
members,  Patrick  Sarsfield  and  some  of  his  comrades,  just 
fresh  from  Limerick,  had  the  deep  satisfaction  to  meet 
King  William  on  the  glorious  field  of  Steinkerk.  Sars- 
field and  Berwick  were  then  officers  high  in  command 
under  Marshal  Luxembourg,  when  King  William,  at  the 
head  of  a  great  allied  force,  attacked  the  French  encamp- 
ment. The  attacking  force  was  under  the  banners  of 


SAKSFIELD   MEETS  WILLIAM   AT-  STEI.NEJRK.         14:7 

England,  of  the  United  Provinces,  of  Spain  and  of  the 
Empire  ;  and  it  had  all  the  advantage  of  effecting  a  sur- 
prise. The  battle  was  long  and  bloody,  and  was  finished 
by  a  splendid  charge  of  French  cavalry,  among  the 
foremost  of  whose  leaders  was  the  same  glorious  Sarsfield 
whose  sword  had  once  before  driven  back  the  same  Wil- 
liam from  before  the  walls  of  Limerick.  The  English  and 
their  allies  were  entirely  defeated  in  that  battle,  with  a 
loss  of  about  10,000  men.  Once  more,  and  before  very 
long,  Sarsfield  and  King  William  were  destined  to  meet 
again." 

King  James  was  at  this  time  living  in  France,  depen- 
dent on  the  bounty  of  Louis  XIV,  watching  eagerly  the 
result  of  the  war  between  France  and  her  allies.  Ruperts 
of  the  unpopularity  of  William,  in  England,  had  reached 
the  royal  exile,  and  by  the  advice  of  his  courtiers  he  issued 
a  declaration,  promising — the  Stuarts  were  always  great 
in  promising — such  reforms  and  improvements  in  admin- 
istration as  might  be  calculated  to  conciliate  public  opin- 
ion in  England  and  turn  the  minds  of  the  people  of  Great 
Britain  so  as  to  lead  a  way  for  his  recall  to  the  throne  he 
had  lost.  This  declaration  was  issued  on  the  17th  of 
April,  1693,  in  which  he  promised  a  free  pardon  to  all  his 
rebellious  subjects  who  had  assisted  to  drive  him  out  of 
his  kingdom  who  should  not  now  oppose  his  landing  ; 
that  as  soon  as  he  was  restored  he  would  call  a  parlia- 
ment ;  that  he  would  confirm  all  such  laws  passed  during 
the  usurpation  as  the  Houses  should  present  to  him  for 
confirmation  ;  that  he  would  protect  and  defend  the  es- 
tablished church  in  all  her  possessions  and  privileges  ; 
that  he  would  riot  again  violate  the  Test  Act ;  that  he 
would  leave  it  to  the  legislature  to  define  the  extent  of 
his  dispensing  power  ;  and  that  he  would  maintain  the 
act  of  settlement  in  Ireland.  This  declaration,  then,  was  an 
appeal  to  his  English  subjects  exclusively  ;  and  to  pro- 
pitiate them,  he  promised  to  leave  the  Irish  people  wholly 
at  their  mercy — to  undo  all  the  measures  in  favor  of  relig- 
ious liberty  and  common  justice  which  had  been  enacted 
by  the  Irish  parliament  of  1689,  and  to  leave  the  holders 
of  the  confiscated  estates — his  own  deadly  enemies  in 


148  JAMES   PLEADS   TO   HIS   ENGLISH   SUBJECTS. 

Ireland — in  undisturbed  possession  of  all  their  spoils.  It 
was  sent  to  England  and  failed  to  produce  the  effect  de- 
sired. In  Ireland,  however,  it  produced  a  great  and  very 
just  indignation  among  the  Irish  soldiers  and  gentlemen 
who  had  lost  all  their  possessions,  and  encountered  so 
many  perils  to  vindicate  the  rights  of  this  cowardly  and 
faithless  king. 

Serious  discontent  was  manifested  among  the  Irish 
regiments  then  serving  in  the  Netherlands  and  on  the 
frontiers  of  Germany  and  Italy  at  this  act  of  base  ingrat- 
itude, as  useless  as  it  was  base;  but  the  Irish  troops  in  the 
army  of  St.  Louis,  the  fierce  exiles  of  Limerick,  were  at 
that  time  too  busy  in  camp  and  field,  and  too  keenly, 
eager  to  meet  the  English  in  battle,  to  pay  much  atten- 
tion to  anything  coming  from  King  James. 

A  portion  of  them  soon  had  their  wish.  On  the  19th  of 
July,  1693,  they  were  in  presence  again — on  the  banks 
of  Landen,  near  Liege,  in  the  Netherlands — a  famous 
battle-ground.  The  French  attacked  the  allies  in  an 
entrenched  position.  Fiercely  they  fought,  and  desper- 
ately were  they  repulsed.  Three  times  were  they  driven 
back  with  fearful  slaughter.  At  length  Neerwinden  being 
carried,  the  key  of  the  position,  the  English  and  allied 
army  gave  way  all  along  the  line.  The  pursuit  was  furi- 
ous and  sanguinary,  the  allies  fighting  every  step  of  the 
way.  "At  length,  "  we  again  quote  Mitchel,  "  the  army 
of  William  arrived  at  the  little  river  of  Gette;  and  here 
the  retreat  was  in  danger  of  becoming  a  total  route.  Arms 
and  standards  were  flung  away,  and  multitudes  of  fugi- 
tives were  choking  up  the  fords  and  bridges  [of  the  riv- 
er, or  perishing  in  its  waters,  so  fiercely  did  the  victors 
press  upon  their  rear.  It  was  here  that  Patrick  Sars- 
field,  Earl  of  Lucan,  who  had  that  day,  as  well  as  at 
Steinkirk,  earned  the  admiration  of  the  whole  French 
army,  received  his  death-shot  at  the  head  of  his  men.  It 
was  in  a  happy  moment.  Before  he  fell  he  could  see  the 
standards  of  England  swept  along  by  the  tide  of  head- 
long flight,  or  trailing  in  the  muddy  waters  of  the  Gette; 
he  could  see  the  scarlet  ranks  that  he  had  once  hurled  back 
from  the  ramparts  of  Limerick,  now  rent  and  torn,  fast 


DEATH   OF   SARSFIELD   ON    FOREIGN   SOIL.  149 

falling  in  their  wild  flight,  \vhile  there  was  sent  pealing 
after  them  the  vengeful  shout  "  JRemember  Limerick  !  " 
The  Catholics  of  Ireland  may  be  said  to  disappear 
from  history  from  the  time  of  William  of  Orange  till  the 
era  for  volunteering,  1779,  when  England,  wasted  and  im- 
poverished by  continual  wars,  was  unable  to  defend  her 
possession  of  Ireland  from  a  foreign  foe.  Most  of  the 
choicest  intellect  and  energy  of  the  Irish  race  were  now 
to  be  looked  for  at  the  courts  of  Versailles,  Madrid  and 
Vienna,  or  under  the  standards  of  France  on  every  bat- 
tle-field of  Europe  .  . .  while  the  ancient  Irish  nation  lay  in 
the  miserable  condition  of  utter  nullity.  The  Protestant 
colony  continued  its  efforts  to  vindicate  its  independence 
of  the  British  Parliament,  but^vith  little  success.  At 
first  sight  it  would  seem  strange  that  the  English  govern- 
ment should  be  jealous  of  any  power  which  the  ascend- 
ancy they  had  built  up  and  fostered  should  acquire  when 
that  power  so  resolutely  refused  their  Catholic  fellow- 
countrymen  any  relaxation  of  the  infamous  penal  code. 
They  were  taught  to  consider  themselves  as  simply  the 
humble  instruments  of  their  masters,  the  king  and  peo- 
ple of  England,  who  were  resolved  to  trample  upon  the 
presumptuous  aspirations  of  their  colony  in  Ireland  in  its 
efforts  to  assert  legislative  independence. 


THE  MASSACRE  OF  MULLAGHMAST 


ABOUT  the  close  of  the  Geraldine  war  this  ever-memo- 
rable massacre  occurred. 

It  is  not,  unhappily,  the^only  tragedy  of  the  kind  to  be 
met  with  in  our  blood-stained  annals;  yet  it  is  of  all  the 
most  vividly  perpetuated  in  popular  traditions.  In  1577, 
Sir  Francis  Cosby,  commanding  the  Queen's  troops  in 
Leix  and  Offaly,  formed  a  diabolical  plot  for  the  perma- 
nent conquest  of  that  district.  Peace  at  the  moment  pre- 
vailed between  the  government  and  the  inhabitants;  but 
Cosby  seemed  to  think  that  in  extirpation  lay  the  only 
effectual  security  for  the  crown.  Feigning,  however, 
great  friendship,  albeit  suspicious  of  some  few  "evil  dis- 
posed" persons,  said  not  to  be  well-affected,  he  invited  to 
a  grand  feast  all  the  chief  families  of  the  territory;  at- 
tendance thereat  being  a  sort  of  test  of  amity.  To  this 
summons  responded  the  flower  of  the  Irish  nobility  in 
Leix  and  Offaly,  with  their  kinsmen  and  friends — the 
O'Mores,  O'Kellys,  Lalors,  O'Nolans,  etc.  The  "banquet" 
— alas! — was  prepared  by  Cosby  in  the  great  Rath  or  Fort  of 
Mullach-Maisten,  or  Mullaghmast,  in  Kildare  county.  Into 
the  great  rath  rode  a  many  pleasant  cavalcade  that  day; 
but  none  ever  came  forth  that  entered  in.  A  gentleman 
named  Lalor  who  had  halted  a  little  way  off,  had  his  sus- 
picions in  some  way  aroused.  He  noticed,  it  is  said,  that 
while  many  went  into  the  rath,  none  were  seen  to  reap- 
pear outside.  Accordingly  he  desired  his  friends  to  re- 
main behind  while  he  advanced  and  reconnoitred.  He 
entered  cautiously.  Inside,  what  a  horrid  spectacle  met 
his  sight!  At  the  very  entrance  the  dead  bodies  of  some 

(150) 


MASSACRE   OF   MULLAGHMAST.  151 

of  his  slaughtered  kinsmen!  In  an  instant  he  himself 
was  set  upon;  but  drawing  his  sword,  he  hewed  his  way 
out  of  the  fort  and  back  to  his  friends,  and  they  barely 
escaped  with  their  lives  to  Dysart!  He  was  the  only 
Irishman,  out  of  more  than  four  hundred  who  entered  the 
fort  that  day,  that  escaped  with  life!  The  invited  guests 
were  butchered  to  a  man;  one  hundred  and  eighty  of  the 
O'Mores  alone  having  thus  perished. 

The  peasantry  long  earnestly  believed  and  asserted 
that  on  the  encircled  rath  of  slaughter  rain  or  dew  never 
fell,  and  that  the  ghosts  of  the  slain  might  be  seen,  and 
their  groans  distinctly  heard  "  on  the  solemn  midnight 
blast!" 

O'er  the  Rath  of  Mullaghmast, 
On  the  solemn  midnight  blast, 
What  bleeding  spectres  pass'd 

With  their  gashed  breasts  bare ! 

Hast  thou  heard  the  fitful  wail 
That  overloads  the  sullen  gale 
When  the  waning  moon  shines  pale 

O'er  the  cursed  ground  there? 

Hark!  hollow  moans  arise 

Through  the  black  tempestuous  skies, 

And  curses,  strife,  and  cries. 

From  the  lone  rath  swell; 

For  bloody  ijydney  there 
Nightly  fills  the  lurid  air 
With  the  unholy  pompous  glare 

Of  the  foul,  deep  hell. 
******* 

False  Sydney!  knighthood's  stain! 
The  trusting  brave — in  vain 
Thy  guests — ride  o'er  the  plain 

To  thy  dark  cow'rd  snare; 

Flow'r  of  Offaly  and  Leix, 

They  have  come  thy  board  to  grace — 

Fools!  to  meet  a  faithless  race, 

Save  with  true  swords  bare. 

While  cup  and  song  abound, 

The  triple  lines  surround 

The  closed  and  guarded  mound, 

Jn  the  night's  dark  noon. 


152  MASSACKE   AT   MULLAGHMAST. 

Alas!  too  brave  O'More, 

E'er  the  revelry  was  o'er, 

They  have  spill'd  thy  young  heart's  gore, 

Snatch'd  from  love  too  soon! 

At  the  feast,  unarmed  all, 
Priest,  bard,  and  chieftain  fall 
In  the  treacherous  Saxon's  hall, 

O'er  the  bright  wine  bowl. 

And  now  nightly  round  the  board, 
With  unsheath'd  and  reeking  sword, 
Strides  the  cruel  felon  lord 

Of  the  blood  stain'd  soul. 

Since  that  hour  the  clouds  that  pass'd 
O'er  the  Rath  of  Mullaghmast. 
One  tear  have  never  cast 

On  the  gore-dyed  sod; 

For  the  shower  of  crimson  rain 
That  o'erflowed  that  fatal  plain, 
Cries  aloud,  and  not  in  vain, 

To  the  most  high  God! 

A  sword  of  vengeance  tracked  Cosby  from  that  day. 
In  Leix  or  Offaly  after  this  terrible  blow  there  was  no 
raising  a  regular  force;  yet  of  the  family  thus  murderous- 
ly cut  down,  there  remained  one  man  who  thenceforth 
lived  but  to  avenge  his  slaughtered  kindred.  This  was 
Ruari  Oge  O'More,  the  guerilla  chief  of  Leix  and  Offaly, 
long  the  terror  and  the  scourge  of  the  Pale.  While  he 
lived  none  of  Cosby's  "  undertakers"  slept  securely  in  the 
homes  of  the  plundered  race.  Swooping  down  upon  their 
castles  and  mansions,  towns  and  settlements,  Ruari  be- 
came to  them  an  Angel  of  Destruction.  When  they 
deemed  him  farthest  away,  his  sword  of  vengeance  was  at 
hand.  In  the  lurid  glare  of  burning  roof  and  blazing  gra- 
nary, they  saw  like  a  spectre  from  the  rath,  the  face  of  an 
O'More;  and,  above  the  roar  of  the  flames,  the  shrieks  of 
victims,  or  the  crash  of  falling  battlements,  they  heard  in 
the  hoarse  voice  of  an  implacable  avenger — "Remember 
Mullaghmast!" 

And  the  sword  of  Ireland  still  was  swift  and  strong  to 
pursue  the  author  of  that  bloody  deed,  and  to  strike  him 


THE    MASSACRE   OF   MULLAGIIMAST.  153 

and  his  race  through  two  generations.     One  by  one  they 
met  their  doom — 

In  the  lost  battle 

Borne  down  by  the  flying; 
Where  mingle's  war's  rattle 

With  the  groans  of  the  dying. 

THE   FIREBRAND    OF    THE    MOUNTAINS. 

On  the  bloody  day  of  Glenmalure,  when  the  red  flag 
of  England  went  down  in  the  battle's  hurricane,  and 
Elizabeth's  proud  viceroy,  Lord  Grey  de  Wilton,  and  all 
the  chivalry  of  the  Pale  were  scattered  and  strewn  like 
autumn  leaves  in  the  gale,  Cosby  of  Mullaghmast  fell  in 
the  rout,  sent  swiftly  to  eternal  judgment  with  the  brand 
of  Cain  upon  his  brow.  A  like  doom,  a  fatality,  tracked 
his  children  from  generation  to  generation!  They  too 
perished  by  the  sword  or  the  battle-axe — the  last  of  them, 
son  and  grandson,  on  one  day,  by  the  stroke  of  an  aveng- 
ing O'More* — until  it  may  be  questioned  if  there  now 
exists  a  human  being  in  whose  veins  runs  the  blood  of 
the  greatly  infamous  knight  commander,  Sir  Francis 
Cosby. 

The  battle  of  Glenmalure  was  fought  25th  of  August, 
1580.  That  magnificent  defile,  as  I  have  already  re- 
marked, in  the  words  of  one  of  our  historians,  had  long 
been  for  the  patriots  of  Leinster  "  a  fortress  dedicated  by 
nature  to  the  defence  of  freedom;"  and  never  had  for- 
tress of  freedom  a  nobler  soul  to  command  its  defense 
than  he  who  now  held  Glenmalure  for  God  and  Ireland — 
Feach  M'Hugh  O'Byrne,  of  Ballinacor,  called  by  the 
English  "  The  Firebrand  of  the  Mountains."  In  his  time 
no  sword  was  drawn  for  liberty  in  any  corner  of  the 
Island,  near  or  far,  that  his  own  good  blade  did  not  leap 
responsively  from  its  scabbard  to  aid  "the  good  old 
cause."  Whether  the  tocsin  was  sounded  in  the  north 
or  in  the  south,  it  ever  woke  pealing  echoes  amidst  the 
hills  of  Glenmalure.  As  in  later  years,  Feach  of  Ballina- 

*  "  Ouney,  son  of  Ruari  Oge  O'More,  slew  Alexander  and  Fran- 
cis Cosby,  son  and  grandson  of  Cosby  of  Mullaghmast,  and  routed 
their  troops  with  great  slaughter,  at  Stradbally  Bridge,  19th  May, 
1597." 


154  THE   MASSACRE   OF   MULLAGHMAST. 

cor  was  the  most  trusted  and  faithful  of  Hugh  O'Neill's 
friends  and  allies,  so  was  he  now  in  arms  stoutly  battling 
for  the  Geraldine  league.  His  son-in-law,  Sir  Francis 
Fitzgerald,  and  James  Eustace,  Viscount  Baltinglass,  had 
rallied  what  survived  of  the  clansmen  of  Idrone,  Offaly, 
and  Leix,  and  had  effected  a  junction  with  him,  taking 
up  strong  positions  in  the  passes  of  Slieveroe  and  Glen- 
malure.  Lord  Grey  of  Wilton  arrived  as  lord  lieutenant 
from  England  on  the  12th  August.  Eager  to  signalize 
his  advent  to  office  by  some  brilliant  achievement,  he  re- 
joiced greatly  that  so  near  at  hand — within  a  day's  march 
of  Dublin  Castle — an  opportunity  presented  itself.  Yes! 
He  would  measure  swords  with  this  wild  chief  of  Glen- 
malure,  who  had  so  often  defied  the  power  of  England. 
He  would  extinguish  the  "  Firebrand  of  the  Mountain," 
and  plant  the  cross  of  St.  George  on  the  ruins  of  Ballina- 
cor!  So,  assembling  a  right  royal  host,  the  haughty  vice- 
roy marched  upon  Glenmalure.  The  only  accounts  which 
we  possess  of  the  battle  are  those  contained  in  letters 
written  to  England  by  Sir  William  Stanley  and  others 
of  the  lord  lieutenant's  officials  and  subordinates;  so  that 
we  may  be  sure  the  truth  is  very  scantily  revealed.  Lord 
Grey  having  arrived  at  the  entrance  to  the  glen,  seems 
to  have  had  no  greater  anxiety  than  to  "  hem  in"  the 
Irish.  So  he  constructed  a  strong  earthwork  or  en- 
trenched camp  at  the  mouth  of  the  valley  the  more  ef- 
fectually to  stop  "  escape!"  It  never  once  occurred  to 
the  vain-glorious  English  viceroy  that  it  was  he  himself 
and  his  royal  army  that  were  to  play  the  part  of  fugitives 
in  the  approaching  scene!  All  being  in  readiness,  Lord 
Grey  gave  the  order  of  the  advance;  he  and  a  group  of 
courtier  friends  taking  their  place  on  a  high  ground  com- 
manding a  full  view  up  the  valley,  so  that  they  might  lose 
nothing  of  the  gratifying  spectacle  anticipated.  An  om- 
inous silence  prevailed  as  the  English  regiments  pushed 
their  way  into  the  glen.  The  courtiers  waxed  witty; 
they  wondered  whether  the  game  had  not  "  stolen  away;" 
they  sadly  thought  there  would  be  "  no  sport;"  or  they 
hallooed  right  merrily  to  the  troops  to  follow  on  and  "  un- 
earth" the  "  old  fox."  After  a  while  the  way  became 


THE   MASSACRE   OF   MULLAGHMAST.  155 

more  and  more  tedious.  "  We  were,"  says  Sir  William 
Stanley,  "forced  to  slide  sometimes  three  or  four  fathoms 
ere  we  could  stay  our  feet;"  the  way  b/3ing  "full  of 
stones,  rocks,  logs,  and  wood;  in  the  bottom  thereof  a 
river  full  of  loose  stones  which  we  were  driven  to  cross 
divers  times."  At  length  it  seemed  good  to  Feach 
M'Hugh  O'Byrne  to  declare  that  the  time  had  come  for 
action.  Then  from  the  forest-clad  mountain  sides  there 
burst  forth  a  wild  shout  whereat  many  of  the  jesting  cour- 
tiers turned  pale;  and  a  storm  of  bullets  assailed  the  en- 
tangled English  legions.  As  yet  the  foe  was  unseen; 
but  his  execution  was  disastrous.  The  English  troops 
broke  into  disorder.  Lord  Grey,  furious  and  distracted, 
ordered  up  the  reserves;  but  now  Feach  passed  the  word 
along  the  Irish  lines  to  charge  the  foe.  Like  the  torrents 
of  winter  pouring  down  those  hills,  down  swept  the  Irish 
force  from  every  side  upon  the  struggling  mass  below. 
Vain  was  all  effort  to  wrestle  against  such  a  furious 
charge.  From  the  very  first  it  became  a  pursuit.  How 
to  escape  was  now  each  castle  courtier's  wild  endeavor. 
Discipline  was  utterly  cast  aside  in  the  panic  rout!  Lord 
Grey  and  a  few  attendants  fled  early,  and  by  fleet  horses 
saved  themselves;  but  of  all  the  brilliant  host  the  viceroy 
had  led  out  of  Dublin  a  few  days  before,  there  returned 
but  a  few  shattered  companies  to  tell  the  tale  of  disaster, 
and  to  surround  with  new  terrors  the  name  of  Feach 
M'Hugh,  the  "Firebrand  of  the  Mountains." 

The  account  of  this  atrocious  and  bloody  deed  has  been 
selected  as  a  sample  of  many  similar  cowardly  "sur- 
prises "  perpetrated  by  English  Lord  Deputies  in  Ireland, 
under  various  reigns.  The  thrilling  narrative  is  taken 
from  Sullivan's  "  Story  of  Ireland." 


ABSENTEEISM. 


WHILE  we  have  now  recounted  the  invasions,  confis- 
cations and  forfeitures  which  marked  the  first  ages  of 
England's  misrule  in  Ireland,  the  giant  evil  of  absen- 
teeism which  springs  directly  from  an  alien  ownership 
of  the  soil  acquired  by  fraud  and  robbery  demands  some 
attention,  without  which  the  story  of  the  causes  of  Irish 
pauperism  and  famine  would  be  incomplete  indeed. 

"  Previously  to  the  Act  of  Union,"  says  Lady  Morgan, 
"absenteeism,  though  encouraged  by  the  geographical 
position  of  the  country,  and  promoted  by  some  inveterate 
habits  derived  from  ancient  abuse,  was  principally  con- 
fined among  the  native  Irish,  to  a  few  individuals,  whose 
ill-understood  vanity  tempted  them  to  seek  for  a  conse- 
quence abroad,  which  is  ever  denied  to  the  unconnected 
strangers,  a  consequence  which  no  extravagant  expense 
can  purchase.  With  few  exceptions,  therefore,  the  mal- 
ady was  confined  to  the  great  English  proprietors  of  for- 
feited estates,  whose  numbers  must,  in  the  progress  of 
events,  have  been  diminished  by  the  dissipations  insepar- 
able from  unbounded  wealth,  and  the  growth  of  commer- 
cial and  mahufactural  fortunes.  It  might  in  some  cases, 
indeed,  be  both  a  vice  and  a  ridicule  in  the  absent;  but 
had  the  nation  in  other  respects  been  well  used  and  well 
governed,  it  would  have  been  of  no  serious  evil  to  those 
who  remained  at  home,  but  the  Act  of  Union,  whatever 
may  be  its  other  operations,  at  once  converted  a  local 
disease  into  a  national  pestilence.  The  center  of  business 
and  of  pleasure,  the  mart  of  promotion,  and  the  fountain 
of  favor  were  by  this  one  fatal  act  at  once  removed  into  a 

(156) 


EVILS   OF   ABSENTEEISM.  157 

foreign  land;  ambition,  avarice,  dissipation  and  refine- 
ment, all  combined  to  seduce  the  upper  classes  into  a 
desertion  of  their  homes  and  country;  and  as  each  suc- 
ceeding ornament  of  the  Irish  capital  abandoned  his  hotel, 
as  each  influential  landlord  quitted  his  castle  in  the  coun- 
try, or  his  mansion  in  the  city,  a  new  race  of  vulgar  up- 
starts, of  uneducated  and  capricious  despots,  usurped 
their  place,  spreading  a  barbarous  morgue  over  the  once 
elegant  society  of  the  metropolis,  and  banishing  peace  and 

security  from  the  mountain  and  the  plain In 

the  political  prospect  of  Ireland,  the  eye  of  philosophy 
and  philanthrophy  turns  on  every  side  in  search  of  a  prin- 
ciple of  regeneration,  and  turns  in  vain.  On  every  side 
a  circle  of  recurring  cause  and  effect,  like  the  mystic  em- 
blem of  the  Egyptians,  points  to  an  eternity  of  woe,  and 
to  endless  cycles  of  misgovernment  and  resistance.  As 
long  as  the  actual  system  continues, — as  long  as  every 
cause  is  forced  to  concur  in  rendering  Ireland  uninhabi- 
table, so  long  will  it  be  impossible  to  organize  any  plan 
for  civilizing,  tranquilizing  and  enriching  the  country.  It 
is  an  empty  and  an  idle  boast  in  the  British  House  of  Com- 
mons, that  it  devotes  successive  nights  to  the  debating  of 
Irish  affairs,  so  long  as  the  religious  divisions  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  pro-consular  government  founded  upon  that  di- 
vision, are  to  be  recognized  as  sound  policy  or  Christian 
charity.  The  half  measures  which  have  hitherto  been 
adopted,  far  from  proving  beneficial,  and  composing  the 
hostility  of  hostile  factions,  have  served  only  to  increase 
discontent  and  disarm  inquiry.  Nor  can  the  ministers 
be  entitled  to  any  praise  for  generosity  who  dare  not  in 
the  first  place  be  just.  In  spite,  therefore,  of  all  their 
professions  of  zeal  and  compassion  for  the  national  dis- 
tress— in  spite  of  all  their  parliamentary  tamperings  with 
the  national  abuses,  they  must  still  remain  answerable  for 
the  greater  part  of  the  absenteeship,  which  they  hold  up 
as  the  great  ill  over  which  they  have  no  control,  and  for 
the  existence  of  which  they  imagine  themselves  not  re- 
sponsible."— Absenteeism,  by  Lady  Morgan,  from  pp. 
152  to  158. 

"  The  British  people  should  also  learn  that  the  absence 


158  DEAN    SWIFT   ON   ABSENTEEISM. 

of  the  ancient  nobles  and  protecting  aristocracy  of  Ire- 
land, drawn  away  by  the  Union  from  their  demesnes  and 
tenantry,  to  the  seat  of  legislation,  and  replaced  only  by 
the  grasping  hands  and  arbitrary  sway  of  upstart  depu- 
ties— increases  in  proportion  with  the  miseries  and  turbu- 
lence of  the  lower  orders,  and  that  the  luxuriant  vegeta- 
tion which  clothes  that  capacious  Island  has  through  the 
same  causes  become  only  a  harbinger  of  want,  or  the 
forbidden  fruit  of  famished  peasantry."  Barrington's 
•Hist.  Anecdotes. 

"  If  I  had  hopes  to  get  a  law  passed  to  burn  every 
clergyman  who  does  not  reside,  to  hang  every  gentle- 
man and  behead  every  nobleman,  who  desert  their  coun- 
try for  their  amusement,  I  would  even  be  content  to 
return  to  the  world  and  solicit  votes  for  it;  but  without 
taking  up  the  burden  of  life  again,  I  should  feel  joy  in 
my  grave  to  have  their  estates  saddled  with  a  constant 
tax  for  absence.  How  lightly  soever  gentlemen  regard 
this  desertion  of  their  native  soil,  it  is  certainly  a  crime 
no  good  or  great  man  can  be  guilty  of;  and  the  officer 
who  quits  his  quarters,  or  the  sailor  who  forsakes  his  ship, 
does  not  better  deserve  to  be  mulcted  in  his  pay  than 
they  do.  I  assure  you,  dear  Tom,  I  could  name  crowds 
of  our  Irish  gentlemen,  that  would  double  their  estates  if 
they  would  live  on  them,  and  ditch  them,  and  drain  them, 
and  build  them,  and  plant  them,  with  half  the  skill  and 
application  of  a  rich,  sensible  farmer  in  England;  nay,  I 
know  some  of  them  that  are  so  situated  that  they  would 
quadruple  their  rents  in  some  years,  if  they  would  build 
towns  and  set  up  manufactures  on  them  with  proper 
care." — Dialogue  between  Dean  Swift  and  Thomas  Prior. 

If  absenteeism  be  an  evil  to  any  na,tion,  must  it  not  be 
a  peculiar  one  to  Ireland?  If  originating  in  dire  mis- 
rule in  1172,  Henry  II  divided  the  Island  into  ten  can- 
tonments, which  he  granted  to  ten  of  his  Anglo-Norman 
followers,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  native  Irish  (Facts  on 
Ireland,  p.  7);  if  he  made  eight  counties  palatine,  which 
created  continued  warfare,  and  such  infamy,  that,  as 
Sir  John  Davies  states,  "  the  weaker  had  no  remedy 
against  the  stronger,  and  no  man  could  enjoy  his  life,  his 


THE   RESULT   OF   ABSENTEEISM.  159 

wife,  his  lands,  or  his  goods  in  safety,  if  a  mightier  than 
himself  had  a  mind  to  take  them  from  him;"  if  "  on  the 
death  of  the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  son-in-law  of  Strongbow, 
and  on  the  decease  of  his  son,  his  great  possessions  in 
Ireland  became  the  property  of  five  females,  each  of 
whom  had  a  county;  and  that  they  married  five  noble- 
men, who  had  great  possessions  in  England,  and  conse- 
quently resided  there,  must  we  not  add  with  the  author 
of  "Facts"  that,  now  began  the  serious  mischief  arising 
from  absentees,  a  mischief  that  unfortunately  continues 
to  the  present  day,  and  which  may  be  assigned  as  one  of 
the  principal  causes  of  the  poverty  and  degraded  condi- 
tion of  the  people. 

"  The  cause  of  absentee  lords  was  that  the  leaders  of 
the  old  Irish  refused  obedience  to  English  laws,  and  that 
the  Earl  of  Norfolk,  who  was  entitled  to  the  lordship  of 
Carlow  (by  English  law),  employed  one  of  the  Cava- 
naughs  as  his  steward,  who  became  master  of  the  entire 
county." — Facts,  p.  11. 

"  The  result  of  Lord  Mortimer  becoming  an  absentee 
and  leaving  Leix  and  Offaly  to  be  managed  by  Lisah  was 
that  the  latter  contrived  to  keep  them  to  himself,  and 
that  his  family  kept  them  for  centuries." — Finglas  MS. 

"  Great  mischief  attended  the  absence  in  England  of 
the  great  proprietors  of  the  land  in  Ireland,  and  that 
from  the  time  of  King  John  no  English  king  had  been  in 
the  country,  nor  had  any  of  the  king's  sons  been  in  Ire- 
land."— Facts,  p  13.  Must  we  not  feel  that  absenteeism 
has  been  a  peculiar  grievance  to  Ireland?  "  King 
Richard  II  considered  the  absence  of  the  landed  proprie- 
tors of  Ireland  as  the  principal  cause  of  the  degenerate 
state  of  the  country,  and  had  an  act  passed  directing  all 
absentees  to  return  to  Ireland  on  pain  of  forfeiting  two- 
thirds  of  the  profits  of  their  lands." — Ibid,  p.  15. 

In  the  reign  of  Philip  and  Mary,  Offaly,  so  long  pos- 
sessed by  the  O'Mores,  was  divided  into  two  shires, 
King's  and  Queen's  counties,  in  consequence  of  the  pro- 
prietors being  absentees.  Many  of  the  ancient  nobility 
and  gentry  followed  James  II  into  exile,  quitting  their 
native  country,  severing  the  ties  of  nature  and  friendship 


160  EFFECTS   OF    ABSENTEEISM. 

to  follow  the  fortunes  of  a  fugitive  prince  to  whom  they 
had  sworn  allegiance.  Some  of  the  ablest  generals  in 
France,  Spain  and  Austria  were  exiles  from  Ireland. 
From  1613  to  1652  the  Catholic  property  in  Ireland  was 
reduced  one-fifth,  according  to  Leland,  but  in  1693.  in 
consequence  of  their  adherence  to  James,  it  was  nearly 
all  transferred  to  Protestants  who  were  mostly  absentees. 
—Leland,  Vol.  3,  p.  574. 

Between  1640  and  1652,  so  great  was  the  misery  caused 
by  forfeitures  and  absentees,  that  a  barrel  of  wheat  which 
sold  in  the  former  year  at  12s.  was  50s.  in  the  latter  ; 
that  the  stock  of  cattle  which,  in  1640  was  valued  at 
£4,000,000,  in  1652  was  not  worth  £400,000;  that  8,000,000 
acres  of  land  which  would  sell  in  1640  for  £1  per  acre,  in 
1652  would  not  bring  one-eighth  of  that  amount  (Petty's 
Pol.  Anatomy);  and  that  about  the  same  time  7,800,000 
acres  were  set  out  to  purchasers  and  adventurers.  (Down 
Survey).  In  1682,  Richard  Lawrence,  in  his  "  True  Inter- 
est of  Ireland  Considered,"  states  that  the  sums  remitted 
to  absentees  were  £157,464.  Battersby,  in  his  "  Repeal- 
ers Manual,"  calculates  the  amount  of  the  absentee  drain 
at  £4,650,000.  The  census  of  1871,  the  last  taken,  gives 
the  number  of  absentee  landlords  at  2.973,  owning 
5,129,169  acres,  and  the  rateable  valuation  for  taxation  at 
£2,470,816,  which  at  a  fair  valuation  for  rental  would  give 
over  £6,000,000,  or  the  annual  drain  from  absentees  over 
thirty  millions  of  dollars  per  annum. 

The  American  Declaration  of  Independence  was  more 
far-reaching  in  its  effects,  and  embraced  a  larger  area  and 
a  greater  population  than  its  authors  and  signers  ever 
supposed.  France  was  aroused,  and  fifteen  years  after- 
ward "waded through  slaughter  "  to  liberty.  Ireland,  ever 
responsive  to  every  movement  in  favor  of  freedom,  and 
ever  ready  to  make  an  opportunity  of  England's  diffi- 
culty, determined  to  unbind  the  chains  in  which  England 
had  bound  her.  Accordingly  we  find  that  she  was  active 
in  her  sympathy  with  America,  for  in  1777  a  resolution  in- 
troduced by  Mr.  Daly,  and  calling  on  the  King  to  discon- 
tinue the  war  against  America,  passed  the  Irish  House  of 
Commons.  Nor  was  her  sympathy  confined  to  resolutions 


IRISH   SYMPATHY   WITH    AMERICAN   REBELS.          161 

alone.  Material  aid  was  given,  and  the  pages  of  the 
muster-roll  of  the  Continental  army  are  as  abundant  in 
Celtic  names  as  that  of  the  Union  armies  of  later  days, 
in  comparison  to  the  numbers  enrolled. 

While  England  was  engaged  in  war  with  France  and 
America.  Ireland  was  busy  organizing  a  volunteer  force 
which  was  destined  to  play  a  very  important  part  in  the 
history  of  after  years.  The  English,  or  Government  party 
in  the  Irish  Parliament,  attempted  to  thwart  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  volunteer  force,  but  the  patriotic  party  under 
Grattan,  who  had  entered  Parliament  a  few  years  before 
under  the  patronage  of  Charlemont,  was  able  to  defeat  all 
schemes  to  substitute  a  militia  for  the  volunteers.  That 
the  Anglo-Irish  faction  distrusted  the  volunteers  is  evi- 
dent, from  the  fact  that  although  the  act  creating  the  force 
was  passed  in  1777,  it  was  not  until  1779,  and  then  very 
reluctantly,  that  they  were  furnished  with  arms  by  the 
government.  The  volunteer  force  at  first  consisted  ex- 
clusively of  Protestants,  or  if  there  were  Catholics  in  the 
ranks  they  were  there  by  connivance.  The  spirit  of  patri- 
otism displayed  by  the  Irish  Catholics  on  this  occasion  is 
beyond  all  praise;  excluded  themselves  from  the  privi- 
lege of  bearing  arms,  they  contributed  largely  to  the 
equipment  of  the  Protestant  volunteers.  The  Catholics  of 
Limerick  alone  subscribed  £800  for  this  purpose — a  large 
sum  for  that  period.  This  liberality  and  patriotism  was 
not  lost  on  the  original  volunteers,  and  soon  the  Catholics 
were  allowed  to  organize  independent  companies,  which 
they  set  about  with  right  good  will.  The  national  army 
was,  however,  only  a  means  to  an  end.  The  Patriot 
Irish  party  not  only  resolved  that  all  restrictions  on  Irish 
Catholics  should  be  removed,  but  that  the  legislature  and 
the  judiciary  of  Ireland  should  be  free  and  independent. 
In  the  Parliament  of  1779  an  amendment  to  the  address 
in  answer  to  the  King's  speech  was  carried  without  a  di- 
vision, demanding,  in  no  equivocal  tones,  that  "  free 
trade  "  should  be  granted  to  Ireland.  The  next  day  the 
speaker,  accompanied  by  Grattan,  Burgh,  Daly  and  other 
members  of  the  Patriotic  party,  took  the  amended  address 
to  the  Lord  Lieutenant.  "  The  streets,"  savs  McGee, 
11 


162      THE  VOLUNTEERS  AND  FREE  TRADE. 

"were  lined  with  volunteers  commanded  in  person  by  the 
Duke  of  Leinster,  who  presented  arms  to  the  patriotic 
Commons  as  they  passed."  On  the  following  day  the 
house  passed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  volunteers  for  their 
"  exertions  in  defense  of  their  country."  The  English  at 
first  refused  to  make  any  concessions,  but  011  the  adop- 
tion of  Grattari's  amendment  to  the  supply-bill,  that  "  at 
this  time  it  is  inexpedient  to  grant  new  taxes,"  by  a  vote 
of  170  to  47,  the  concessions  demanded  were  reluctantly 
made,  and  thus  was  free  trade  established  in  Ireland  bv 
the  patriotism  of  the  Irish  volunteers  and  the  firmness  of 
the  Irish  Parliament  led  by  Grattan.  Mr.  Pitt  was 
obliged  to  send  a  circular  letter  to  the  English  manu- 
facturing towns,  assuring  them  that  the  concessions  made 
to  the  Irish  were  of  little  practical  value,  which,  of  course, 
was  not  true.  But  Grattan  and  his  compatriots  were  not 
satisfied  with  free  trade  alone;  they  determined  to  have  a 
free  Paliament,  too,  and  on  the  19th  of  April,  1780,  moved 
"that  the  King,  Lords  and  Commons  of  Ireland  are  the 
only  power  competent  to  enact  laws  to  bind  Ireland." 
The  motion  was  supported  by  Burgh  and  Yelverton;  but 
Flood  and  Daly  were  for  delay,  while  others  resisted  the 
motion,  and  an  amendment  by  the  government  that, 
"  there  being  an  equivalent  resolution  already  on  the 
journals  of  the  House,"  a  new  resolution  was  necessary, 
was  carried  by  136  to  79.  The  result,  however,  was 
gratifying  to  Grattan. 

The  attempt  of  the  government  to  force  on  the  Irish 
parliament  the  perpetual  Mutiny  act,  called  the  services 
of  the  volunteers  into  requisition  once  again.  Meetings 
were  held  throughout  the  country,  "  and  significant  ad- 
dresses presented  to  Grattan,  Flood  and  Charlomont." 
Grattan,  in  his  place  in  parliament,  said  that  he  would  op- 
pose the  bill  with  all  his  might,  and  that  if  it  was  enacted 
he  and  his  friends  would  withdraw  from  parliament  and 
appeal  to  the  country.  The  government  did  not  dare  to 
press  the  bill  during  that  session.  Parliament  was  not 
assembled  again  till  October,  1781.  In  the  meantime, 
Lord  Carlisle  had  succeeded  Buckingham  as  Viceroy,  and 
the  English,  true  to  their  old  policy,  were  lavish  in  the 


DECLARATION    OF   IRISH    RIGHTS.  163 

distribution  of  bribes  in  the  way  of  titles  and  places.  The 
Mutiny  Bill  was  resisted  with  great  spirit  by  Grattan. 
The  news  of  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  disarranged  the 
plans  of  the  government.  The  volunteers  held  a  conven- 
tion at  Dungannon  in  February,  1782.  Resolutions  were 
unanimously  adopted  declaring  it  unconstitutional,  illegal, 
and  a  grievance  for  any  body  of  men  "other  than  the 
King,  Lords  and  Commons  of  Ireland  "  to  claim  the  right 
to  make  laws  for  their  country.  These  resolutions — the 
declaration  of  Irish  Rights — were  ratified  with  surprising 
unanimity  by  the  various  public  bodies  throughout  the 
Island.  On  the  16th  of  April,  1782,  Grattan  moved  the 
following  amendment  to  a  motion  by  Mr.  Ponsonby  : 

"  That  the  kingdom  of  Ireland  is  a  distinct  kingdom, 
with  a  Parliament  of  her  own,  the  sole  legislature  thereof; 
that  there  is  no  body  of  men  competent  to  make  laws  to 
bind  the  nation  but  the  King,  Lords  and  Commons  of 
Ireland,  nor  any  Parliament  which  hath  any  authority  or 
power  of  any  sort  whatever  in  this  country,  save  only  the 
Parliament  of  Ireland,"  etc. 

Mr.  Brownlow,  the  member  from  Armagh,  seconded 
the  amendment,  which  was  carried  by  a  unanimous  vote, 
and  "  after  centuries  of  oppression,"  says  Sir  Jonah  Bar- 
rington,  "Ireland  declared  herself  an  independent  nation." 
The  patriot  pens  of  Swift,  Molyneux  and  Lucas,  the  de- 
termination of  the  "  volunteers  of  '82,"  and  the  splendid 
genius  and  lofty  patriotism  of  Grattan  had  triumphed. 
"  I  found  Ireland  on  her  knees,"  said  Grattan.  "  I 
watched  over  her  with  fraternal  solicitude;  I  have  traced 
her  progress  from  injury  to  arms,  and  from  arms  to  lib- 
erty.'' 

"  Manufacture,  trade  and  commerce,"  says  Mr.  Sulli- 
van, "  developed  to  a  greater  extent  in  ten  years  of  na- 
tive rule  than  they  had  done  in  the  previous  one  hundred 
under  English  mastery."  The  Irish  Parliament  set  about 
reforming  the  laws  relating  to  suffrage.  It  was  sought 
to  disfranchise  the  "rotten  boroughs";  this  the  English 
government  resisted,  and  in  1800  they  had  reason  to  con- 
gratulate themselves  on  the  wisdom  of  their  refusal. 

As   the  struggle   of  the  American  colonies    inspired 


164      SOCIETY   OF   THE   UNITED   IRISHMEN   FORMED. 

Grattan  and  his  friends  to  measures  "  peacable,  legal  and 
constitutional,  "  for  the  achievement  of  the  legislative 
independense  of  Ireland^  so  the  more  passionate,  the  bold- 
er, and  bloodier  French  revolution  inspired  many  of  the 
more  fiery  spirits  of  Ireland  to  more  republican  and  rev- 
olutionary principles.  Of  these  spirits  the  ablest,  the 
boldest  and  most  liberal  was  Theobald  Wolf  Tone — 
"  Gallant  Tone."  His  first  measures  tended  to  bring 
about  a  union  of  all  classes,  creeds  and  sects  in  an  eifort 
to  accomplish  by  legal  measures  parliamentary  reform 
and  the  enfranchisement  of  Catholics.  The  first  associa- 
tion of  this  kind  was  formed  in  Belfast,  and  soon  branch 
organizations  were  established  in  every  town  in  Ireland. 
The  association  was  called  the  Society  of  United  Irish- 
men, and  no  pains  were  spared  by  the  members  to  en- 
large the  organization  or  to  inculcate  the  doctrines  for 
which  it  was  established. 

The  persecution  by  the  government  of  some  of  its  most 
active  members,  compelled  the  United  Irish  Association 
to  become  an  oath-bound  and  secret  body.  The  society 
grew  to  great  proportions.  About  half  a  million  of  men 
were  soon  enrolled.  The  leaders  established  communica- 
tions with  France,  and  for  a  time  it  seemed  as  if  the 
United  Irishmen  would  succeed  in  their  purpose  by  other 
than  "  legal,  peaceable  and  constitutional"  means.  The 
Insurrection  Act,  making  it  a  capital  offense  to  adminis- 
ter the  United  Irish  Society  oath  was  passed  in  1796. 
Eighty  thousand  men  were  quartered  in  Ireland  to  sup- 
press the  rebellion  should  it  take  place.  Supreme  con- 
trol of  the  country  was  given  to  the  military  authorities. 
The  Orange  soldiers  were  quartered  in  the  Catholic  dis- 
tricts, and  English  soldiers  in  the  Presbyterian  districts  of 
Ulster.  Suspected  parties  were  brought  before  the  mili- 
ary  tribunals,  and  on  the  testimony  of  perjured  informers 
were  condemned  and  executed.  The  lash,  the  gallows, 
and  drum-head  court-martial  were  the  main  support  of 
British  law  in  Ireland. 

Lord  Holland  asserts  "  that  the  people  of  Ireland  were 
driven  to  resistance  (which  possibly  they  meditated  be- 
fore) by  the  free  quarters  and  excesses  of  the  soldiery, 


THE  PEOPLE  GOADED  TO  PREMATURE  INSURRECTION.    165 

which  were  such  as  are  not  permitted  in  civilized  warfare, 
even  in  an  enemy's  country.  Dr.  Dickson,  Lord  Bishop 
of  Down  and  Connor,"  continues  Lord  Holland,  "assured 
me  that  he  had  seen  ....  wives  and  daughters  exposed  to 
every  species  of  indignity,  brutality  and  outrage,  from 
which  neither  his  (the  bishop's)  remonstrances  nor  those 
of  other  Protestant  gentlemen  could  rescue  them."  Sir 
John  Moore,  referring  to  these  brutalities,  declared  that 
if  he  were  an  Irishman  he  would  be  a  rebel. 

The  Supreme  Council  of  the  Irish  Society  was  seized  at 
the  house  of  Oliver  Bond  in  March,  1798.  The  papers, 
muster  rolls,  etc.,  were  taken,  and  thus  the  government 
became  acquainted  with  all  the  plans  of  the  society,  its 
membership  and  policy.  The  Sheareses,  Lord  Edward 
and  Doctor  Lawless,  took  charge  of  the  affairs  of  the  or- 
ganization, and  the  government  bent  all  their  energies  to 
effect  their  capture. 

The  23d  of  May  had  been  fixed  for  the  day  of  the  ris- 
ing, and  on  the  18th  of  that  month  Lord  Edward  was 
captured  by  Major  Sirr,  after  a  deadly  struggle,  in  which 
he  had  mortally  wounded  several  of  the  party.  Lord  Ed- 
ward lingered  until  the  4th  of  June.  The  Sheareses  were 
captured  on  the  21st  of  May,  and  were  executed  on  the 
34th  of  July  following.  The  leaders  being  now  removed, 
the  United  Irishmen  were  helpless.  Abortive  risings 
occurred  in  Antrim,  Down,  Meath,  Kildare  and  Dublin, 
but  the  insurgents  were  without  leaders  or  organization, 
and  the  rebellion — if  such  it  can  be  called — was  speedily 
and  bloodily  quelled.  The  French  expedition,  under 
Humbert  came  too  late,  and  after  having  advanced  into 
Mayo  was  compelled  to  surrender.  The  later  and  smaller 
expeditions  were,  equally  unsuccessful.  Wolf  Tone  was 
captured  on  board  a  French  vessel,  tried  and  executed. 
The  savage  soldiery  were  free  to  wreak  their  vengeance 
on  the  unprotected  peasantry. 

There  was  one  part  of  Ireland,  however,  which,  although 
not  permea  ed  to  any  great  extent  by  the  doctrines  of 
the  United  Irishmen,  could  illy  bear  the  taunts,  the  in- 
sults and  the  brutalities  of  the  savage  soldiery.  The 
brave  men  of  Wexford  would  die  in  defense  of  the  honor 


166  THE   WEXFOED   INSURGENTS. 

of  their  wives  and  sweethearts,  even  though  they  should 
receive  no  aid  from  any  other  portion  of  the  country. 

"  They  rose  in  dark  and  evil  days, 

To  right  their  native  land, 
And  kindled  there  a  living  blaze 
That  nothing  can  withstand." 

"  And  failing,  though  they  nobly  fought,  they  have  shown 
what  Irishmen  might  do  were  they  united,  resolved  and 
brave  as  they  were.  The  North  Cork  militia  have  won 
the  unenviable  notoriety  of  being  the  most  savage,  fiend- 
ish and  devilishly  inspired  of  all  the  brutal  English  sol- 
diery of  '98.  The  cowardly  imps  of  Satan  were  no  sooner 
quartered  on  the  people  of  Wexford  than  they  set  about 
forming  Orange  lodges.  The  "  gentry  "  of  the  country — 
that  is,  the  petty  landlords — the  vampires  who  continue 
to  suck  the  life-blood  of  the  people  of  Ireland — readily 
fraternized  with  the  militia.  Men  were  arrested  and  put 
to  death  on  the  most  trivial  pretext.  The  bridge,  public 
squares,  and  market-places  were  the  scenes  of  the  most 
brutal  and  cowardly  murders.  At  length,  when  twenty- 
eight  men  were  shot  down  at  Carmen,  and  twenty-four 
men  at  Dunlavin,  without  the  form  of  trial,  patience  ceased 
to  be  a  virtue.  Father  John  Murphy,  whose  chapel  and 
house  were  burned  down  on  the  night  of  the  20th  of 
May,  called  on  the  people  of  Wexford  to  rise  up  and  de- 
fend their  homes.  The  people  flocked  to  the  brave 
priest's  standard,  attacked  the  militia  at  Camolin,  killed 
the  lieutenant  and  one  soldier.  The  others  fled  like  the 
cowardly  scoundrels  that  they  were.  Father  Murphy, 
with  his  little  band,  retired  to  take  a  defensive  position 
on  Oulart  hill,  where  he  was  joined  by  many  of  the 
peasants.  Here,  on  the  next  day,  he  was  attacked  by  the 
Shilmalier  Yeomen,  under  Col.  LeHunte,  and  a  detach- 
ment of  the  North  Cork  militia,  under  Col.  Foote.  The 
insurgents  took  shelter  behind  a  hedge,  and  as  the  yeo- 
men and  militia  advanced  quite  close  to  their  position, 
a  small  body  of  the  rebels  appeared  on  either  flank. 
This  manoeuvre  had  the  desired  effect  of  drawing  the  tire 
of  the  enemy,  and  before  they  had  time  to  reload, 
the  Wexford  men  fell  upon  and  cut  them  to  pieces.  Only 


THE   BATTLE   AT   OULART    HILL.  167 

half  a  dozen  of  the  North  Cork,  including  the  Colonel, 
escaped.  The  yeomen  fled  without  coming  into  action, 
and  on  their  retreat,  perpetrated  the  most  frightful  out- 
rages on  innocent  and  defenceless  women  and  children. 

Having  secured  the  arms  at  Camolin,  Ferns,  and  other 
places,  Father  Murphy  next  determined  to  attack  Ennis- 
corthy.  His  army  at  this  time  amounted  to  7,000  men 
although  all  were  not  well  armed.  The  town  was  de- 
fended by  a  large  and  well  armed  force  hut  the  insurgents 
flushed  with  their  victory  at  Oulart  Hill  captured  the 
town  after  a  determined  struggle.  The  enemy  fled  to 
Wexford  but  not  until  they  made  an  attempt  to  murder 
the  prisoners  in  the  jail;  the  warden  however  had  fled 
with  the  keys,  and  so  they  were  balked  in  their  murderous 
object.  The  town  of  Gorey  surrendered  to  the  insurgents 
about  the  same  time.  The  town  of  Wexford  became  the 
rallying  point  for  the  enemy.  Mr.  Colclough  and  Mr. 
Fitzgerald,  who  with  Bagenal  Harvey  and  other  gentle- 
men were  imprisoned  in  Wexford  on  suspicion,  were  sent 
to  Vinegar  Hill  to  treat  with  the  insurgents  who  had  en- 
camped at  that  point.  Mr.  Colclough  was  retained  and 
Mr.  Fitzgerald  sent  back  to  inform  the  English  com- 
mander at  Wexford  that  so  far  were  they  from  proposing 
to  surrender,  that  they  would  immediately  attack  Wex- 
ford itself.  The  garrison  took  fright  at  this  message  and 
immediately  evacuated  the  town. 

Mr.  Bagenal  Harvey  was  made  commander-in-chief  of 
the  insurgent  army,  but  after  the  battle  of  Ross  was  re- 
tired from  that  position,  and  became  president  of  a  council 
or  directory  which  sat  in  Wexford  and  directed  the  op- 
erations of  the  insurgent  army. 

An  expedition  under  Gen.  Faucett,  who  set  out  from 
Dungannon  at  the  head  of  a  considerable  force,  was 
fallen  on  at  u  Three  Rock,"  and  three  howziters  were 
captured  by  the  insurgents  besides  many  prisoners,  and 
more  than  a  hundred  of  the  enemy  were  left  dead  on  the 
field.  Three  encampments  were  now  formed,  one  at 
Vinegar  Hill,  under  the  command  of  Fathers  Kearns  and 
Clinch,  and  Messrs.  Fitzgerald,  Redmond,  an'd  Doyle; 
the  Carrickbyrne  camp,  commanded  by  Bagnal  Harvey 


168  INSURGENTS    AT   NEW    BOSS. 

and  Father  Roche,  and  the  camp  at  Carrigrua  by  Fathers 
Michael  and  John  Murphy,  Esmond  Kyan,  and  Mr.  Perry, 
of  Inch.  The  last  force  marched  toward  Gorey  and  were 
met  by  Gen.  Loftus  at  the  head  of  1,500  men,  whom 
they  forced  back  into  the  town.  Being  reinforced  soon 
after  by  troops  from  Dublin  under  Col.  Walpole,  he  set 
out  on  the  4th  of  June  to  break  up  the  camp  at  Carngrua, 
but  the  force  fell  into  an  ambuscade  at  Tubberneering. 
Walpole  was  killed,  his  ordinance  and  regimental  flags 
captured,  and  the  town  of  Gorey  fell  into  the  hands  of 
of  the  insurgents.  The  division  of  the  insurgents  at  Vine- 
gar Hill  captured  Newtownbarry  and  drove  out  its  garrison 
of  800  men  under  Col.  L'Estrange,  but  instead  of  follow- 
ing up  their  victory  the  insurgents,  imbibed  too  freely  of 
the  refreshments,  were  attacked  in  turn  and  400  of  their 
number  slain.  A  similar  fate  betook  the  insurgents  at 
New  Ross.  They  had  captured  the  town  and  the  garrison 
under  Gen.  Johnston,  who  was  about  retreating  to  Kilken- 
ny, but  not  being  pursued  he  judged  rightly  that  the 
victors  were  indulging  in  a  carouse,  returned  and  fell  on 
them  in  the  midst  of  their  revels,  and  drove  them  out  of 
the  town  with  great  slaughter.  An  attack  on  Arklow 
was  defeated  by  Gen.  Needham.  Father  Michael  Murphy 
was  slain  and  Esmond  Kyan  seriously  wounded.  It  is 
said  that  1,500  of  the  insurgents  lost  their  lives  in  this 
battle.  The  defeated  party  retired  to  Vinegar  Hill, 
which  was  now  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  an  army  of 
20,000  men  under  the  command  of  Lake,  Wilford, 
Dun  das,  and  Johnson.  Sir  John  Moore  was  prevented 
from  joining  this  army  by  the  insurgents  at  Carrigrua, 
with  whom  he  had  a  "  pretty  sharp  action."  After 
about  an  hour's  desperate  firhting  the  insurgents  broke 
and  fled  by  the  unguarded  side  of  the  hill,  and  the  Wex- 
ford  rebellion  was  broken.  There  was  no  concert  of 
action  on  the  part  of  the  neighboring  counties,  tho  Wex- 
ford  men,  and  a  few  straggling  bands  from  Wicklow  and 
Kildare,  had  to  bear  the  whole  brunt  of  battle,  yet  it 
took  an  army  of  50,000  men  to  put  down  the  insurrection 
in  a  single  county.  Had  there  been  organization  and 
discipline  among  the  brave  peasantry  they  might  at  least 


INSURGENTS    AT    NEW    BOSS.  169 

have  held  out  until  aid  was  obtained  from  France  or  the 
other  provinces. 

The  rest  of  the  story  is  shortly  told.  After  trying  in 
vain  to  rally  the  rebels,  Bagenal  Harvey  and  Father 
Roche  surrendered.  Grogan  and  Colclough  were  taken 
prisoners  and  all  \vere  beheaded.  Esmond  Kyan  was  ar- 
rested and  instantly  put  to  death,  and  the  other  leaders 
fled  for  safety.  Many  of  them  were  afterwards  arrested 
and  summarily  dealt  with,  and  the  last  armed  rebellion 
of  Ireland  against  the  rule  of  England  was  ended. 


NINETY-EIGHT  TO  FORTY-EIGHT. 


THE   ACT   OF    UNION. 

« 

It  was  on  the  first  day  of  January,  1801,  at  the  hour  of 
noon,  that  the  imperial  United  Standard,  mounted  on  the 
Bedford  tower  in  Dublin  castle,  and  the  guns  of  the  royal 
salute  battery  in  the  Phoenix  Park,  announced  to  bleed- 
ing, prostrate,  weeping  Ireland  that  her  independence 
was  no  more,  that  her  guilt-stained  parliament  had  done 
its  hateful  and  suicidal  work,  and  that  the  union  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  was  now  complete  and  inseparable, 
so  far,  at  hast,  as  English  power  and  Irish  treachery  could 
effect  to  seal  and  crown  the  bond. 

The  suppression  of  the  rebellion  of  1798  was  followed 
by  a  period  of  prostration  and  terror  throughout  Ireland, 
which  afforded  to  the  English  minister,  Pitt,  the  coveted 
opportunity  to  consolidate  the  legislative  power  of  the 
two  countries,  or  in  other  words,  to  abolish  the  Irish  par- 
liament and  thereby  extinguish  the  last  trace  of  Ireland's 
independence.  Indeed,  it  is  plain  from  the  records  and 
state  papers  of  this  period,  since  published,  that  the  re- 
bellion itself  was  fomented  and  encouraged  by  the  British 
ministry  and  its  adroit  and  unscrupulous  agent,  Castle- 
reagh.  The  proofs  of  this  will  be  referred  to  later  on. 

During  the  progress  of  the  machination  and  plotting* 
to  bring  about  the  Act  of  Union,  the  Habeas  Corpus  act 
was  suspended,  and  with  it  all  forms  of  constitutional  free- 
dom practically  abolished  in  Ireland.  Martial  law  had 
been  proclaimed  at  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion.  There 
was  no  longer  protection  for  life  or  property;  law  furnished 

(170) 


THE   LEGISLATIVE   UNION.  171 

no  security,  and  public  opinion  was  effectually  stifled. 
The  press  was  "  muzzled,"  and  public  meetings,  even 
when  legally  convened  by  sheriffs  and  magistrates,  were 
dispersed  by  military  violence.  The  fact  of  martial  law 
alone  suffices  to  demonstrate  the  system  of  terrorism  and 
violence  under  cover  of  which  the  baleful  measure  was 
successfully  carried  through  the  Irish  Houses  of  Parlia- 
ment. But  this  was  not  the  only  agency.  Another  was 
employed  which  has  seldom  proved  in  effective  when  Eng- 
land had  an  end  to  gain  : — the  potential  influence  of 
gold  and  titles,  of  bribery  and  patronage. 

The  corruption  resorted  to  by  the  English  Government 
to  carry  the  Act  of  Union,  is  the  most  stupendous  example 
of  wholesale  bribery  presented  in  the  annals  of  any  nation. 

Three  millions  of  pounds  sterling,  $15,000,000,  is  the 
accepted  estimate  of  the  "pecuniary  consideration"  paid  in 
exchange  for  votes  in  Parliament  in  favor  of  the  Union; 
besides  this,  peerages,  judgeships,  appointments  in  the 
army  and  navy,  the  sanctuary  of  law,  and  even  the  temples 
of  religion  were  in  like  manner  the  subject  of  traffic  for 
the  same  nefarious  end. 

It  should  be  well  understood  that  the  Irish  Parliaments 
were  only  in  a  very  limited  sense  representative  bodies. 
Up  to  the  years  1792-3,  the  Catholics  of  Ireland  were  still 
subject  to  the  most  irksome  and  galling  features  of  the 
penal  code;  though  composing  four- fifths  of  the  popula- 
tion, they  were  disfranchised  ;  the  liberal  professions 
were  not  open  to  any  of  their  faith,  and  none  save  the 
humblest  and  most  menial  public  employments  were  ac- 
cessible to  them. 

The  concessions  extorted  from  the  fears  of  Great  Britain 
in  1793  made  it  possible  fora  CatholiS  to  acquire  the 
elective  franchise,  but  the  right  to  sit  in  Parliament  was 
denied  him. 

Overtures  were  made  to  win  over  the  support  of  the 
Catholics  of  Ireland  to  the  Act  of  Union,  and  the  memoirs 
and  correspondence  of  Lord  Castlereagh  shows  that  the 
boon  of  Catholic  emancipation  was  offered  by  the  British 
premier  in  return  for  this  support.  But  even  with  this 
alluring  bait  held  out  to  them,  the  great  body  of  the  Cath- 


172  ATTEMPTS   TO    WIN    OVER   THE    CATHOLICS. 

olics  loyally  adhered  to  the  cause  of  Irish  legislative  in- 
dependence. In  the  end  the  Minister  accomplished  his 
aim,  but  he  succeeded  solely  by  the  employment  of  the 
most  flagitious  means  and  by  carrying  out  the  most  gi- 
gantic system  of  bribery  and  corruption  shown  in  Par- 
liamentary annals. 

As  Daniel  O'Connell  in  his  "  Memoir  on  Ireland/' 
2d  ed.,  p.  28,  says:  "  The  Act  of  Union  was  not  a  bar- 
gain or  agreement.  It  had  its  origin  in  and  was  carried 
by  force,  fraud,  terror,  torture  and  corruption.  It  has  to 
this  hour  no  binding  power  but  what  it  derives  from 
force.  It  is  still  a  mere  name.  The  countries  are  not 
united.  The  Irish  are  still  treated  as  *  aliens '  in  blood 
and  in  religion.  Thus  was  the  legislative  independence 
of  Ireland  extinguished.  Thus  was  the  greatest  crime 
ever  perpetrated  by  the  English  Government  upon  Ire- 
land consummated." 

We  proceed  to  show  in  a  few  extracts  what  contempo- 
raneous opinion  expressed  in  regard  to  this  measure. 

Grattan,  Saurin,  Plunkett,  Bushe,  Curran,  spoke  in  no 
equivocal  terms  on  the  subject.  "  Sir,"  said  Plunkett  in 
addressing  the  Speaker  of  the  Irish  House  of  Commons, 
<;  I,  in  the  most  express  terms,  deny  the  competency  of 
Parliament  to  do  this  act  ;  I  warn  you,  do  not  dare  to  lay 
your  hands  on  the  constitution.  I  tell  you,  that  if,  cir- 
cumstanced as  you  are,  you  pass  this  act,  it  will  be  a 
mere  nullity,  and  no  man  in  Ireland  will  be  bound  to 
obey  it.  I  make  the  assertion  deliberately  ;  1  repeat  it  ; 
I  call  on  any  man  who  hears  me  to  take  down  my  words. 
You  have  not  been  elected  for  this  purpose."  "  Your- 
selves you  may  extinguish,  but  Parliament  you  cannot 
extinguish.  It  is  enthroned  in  the  hearts  of  the  people — 
it  is  enshrined  in  the  Sanctuary  of  the  Constitution — it  is 
as  immortal  as  the  Island  which  it  protects." 

The  words  of  Saurin  are  equally  significant.  "  If,  "  said 
he,  "  a  legislative  union  should  be  so  forced  upon  this 
country  against  the  will  of  its  inhabitants,  it  would  be  a 
nullity,  and  resistance  would  be  a  struggle  against  usur- 
pation, and  not  a  resistance  against  law." 

Grattan,  the  foremost  as  he  was  incomparably  the  most 


ELOQUENT   PROTESTS    AGAINST   THE   ACT.  173 

eloquent  champion  of  Irish  rights  and  legislative  inde- 
pendence, cited  authorities  without  number  in  support 
of  his  proposition  that  the  Irish  Parliament  was  not  com- 
petent to  transfer  the  legislative  authority  to  the  people 
of  another  country.  Puffendorf,  Grotius,  Locke,  Junius, 
Sir  Joseph  Jekeyl,  Bolingbroke,  and  other  noted  authori- 
ties in  Civil  and  Parliamentary  law,  were  quoted  by  Mr. 
Grattan  in  support  of  his  position.  It  is  embarrassing  to 
discriminate  between  the  eloquent  and  vehement  passages 
in  this  great  orator's  anti-Union  speeches  for  the  purpose 
of  giving  a  single  extract.  This  may  serve  as  an  illustra- 
tion : 

"  The  cry  of  disaffection,  "  said  he  in  his  final  address, 
"will  not,  in  the  end,  avail  against  the  principles  of  lib- 
erty." 

Identification  is  a  solid  and  imperial  maxim,  necessary 
for  the  preservation  cf  freedom,  necessary  for  that  of 
empire;  but  without  union  of  hearts — with  a  separate 
government  and  without  a  separate  parliament,  identifi- 
cation is  extinction,  is  dishonor,  is  conquest — not  identi- 
fication. 

"Yet  I  do  not  give  up  the  country:  I,  Sir,  see  her  in  a 
swoon,  but  she  is  not  dead;  though  in  her  tomb  she  lies 
helpless  and  motionless,  still  there  is  on  her  lips  a  spirit 
of  life,  and  on  her  cheeks  a  glow  of  beauty. 

"  Thou  art  not  conquered;  beauty's  ensign  yet 
Is  crimson  in  thy  lips  and  on  thy  cheeks, 
And  death's  pale  flag  is  not  advanced  there." 

"  While  a  plank  of  the  vessel  sticks  together,  I  will  not 
leave  her.  Let  the  courtier  present  his  flimsy  sail,  and 
carry  the  light  bark  of  his  faith  with  every  new  breath 
of  wind  ;  I  will  remain  anchored  here  with  fidelity  to 
the  fortunes  of  my  country — faithful  to  her  freedom,  faith- 
ful to  her  fall. " 

In  his  "  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Irish  Nation,  "  Sir  Jonah 
Barrington  presents  the  ghastly  and  repulsive  details 
of  the  corruption  by  which  the  fatal  measure  was  finally 
carried  by  the  meagre  majority  of  eight,  and  Ireland 
thereby  fell  from  "  the  majesty  of  a  nation  to  the  degra- 
dation of  a  province. " 


174  GRATTAN'S  EFFORTS  TO  PREVENT  IT. 

We  have  dwelt  thus  long  and  in  detail  on  this  event  in 
Irish  history,  because  it  is  important  to  make  clear  to  the 
reader  unfamiliar  with  these  facts,  the  circumstances  un- 
der which  the  Parliamentary  independence  of  Ireland 
was  wrested  from  her.  Nay,  it  is  all  the  more  important, 
since  the  chief  interest  in  the  subsequent  struggles  and 
agitation  centers  around  the  efforts  that  were  made,  and 
are  still  in  progress  to  win  back  her  lost  rights  and  inde- 
pendence. 

The  long  struggle  maintained  for  the  "Repeal  of  the 
Union,"  the  efforts  to  secure  "Home  Rule,"  the  existing 
agitation  for  Land  Reform  and  Tenant  Rights,  all  point  to 
the  same  inevitable  result — the  restoration  at  least  of  the 
Native  Parliament  which  was  surrendered  in  1801. 

CATHOLIC   EMANCIPATION. 

Ireland  recovered  slowly  from  the  prostration  succeed- 
ing the  fatal  period  of  '98,  and  the  degredation  which  fol- 
lowed the  union  of  the  two  kingdoms. 

The  abortive  uprising  of  ]803  under  the  leadership  of 
the  gallant  and  unfortunate  Emmet,  crushed  anew  for  a 
time  all  hope  of  national  freedom;  indeed  the  chains  were 
rivited  only  the  more  firmly  around  the  form  of  the  pros- 
trate, bleeding  country — chains  forged  by  English  rule 
and  Irish  treachery.  Life  alone  remained,  though  the 
people  of  Ireland  were  smote  down  into  the  dust;  they 
hardly  dared  to  breathe,  still  less,  give  voice  to  their  wail 
of  bitter  woe  and  pain. 

It  was  only  when  the  question  of  Catholic  Emancipa- 
tion found  an  exponent  and  a  champion  in  Daniel  CTCon- 
nell,  that  Ireland  gave  signs  of  national  life  and  vitality. 

Catholic  Ireland  had  long  been  crushed  and  trodden 
down. 

It  fell  with  the  death  of  Owen  Roe  O'Neill  and  the 
surrender  of  the  confederate  chieftains  and  armies  to 
Cromwell  in  1652;  and  the  last  spark  of  life  seemed  gone 
out  forever  when  Sarsfiold  folded  the  green  flag  at  Lim- 
erick and  carried  it  with  his  gallant  brigades  to  waive  it 
again  on  foreign  fields. 

Throughout  the  long  and  gloomy  interval — illuminated 


EMANCIPATION   NOT   CONFINED   TO    IRELAND.        175 

by  no  ray  of  hope,  no  gleam  of  promise — it  seemed  as  if 
the  dirge  which  was  suggested  by  another  national 
calamity  were  indeed  a  prophecy: 

"0  Ireland!  my  country,  the  hour 
Of  thy  pride  and  thy  splendor  is  past; 
The  chain  that  was  spurned  in  thy  moment  of  power, 
Hangs  heavy  around  thee  at  last; 
There  are  marks  in  the  fate  of  each  clime, 
There  are  turns  in  the  fortunes  of  men; 
But  the  changes  of  realms  and  the  chances  of  time, 
Can  never  restore  thee  again. 

"Thy  riches,  with  taunts  shall.be  taken, 
Thy  valor,  with  coldness  repaid; 
And  of  millions,  who  see  thee  forsaken, 
Not  one  shall  stand  forth  in  thy  aid. 
In  the  nations  thy  place  is  left  void, 
Thou  art  lost  in  the  list  of  the  free, 
Even  realms  by  the  plague  or  spoiler  destroyed 
May  revive;  but  no  hope  is  for  thee.'' 

The  agitation  which  O'Connell  may  be  said  to  have 
initiated,  and  the  great  organization  which  he  founded, 
resulted,  as  all  know,  in  wresting  Catholic  emancipation 
from  an  unwilling  minister  and  a  hostile  King.  This  was 
an  achievement  of  the  mightiest  import;  nor  were  its 
effects  confined  to  Ireland.  It  liberated  English  and 
Scotch,  as  well  as  the  Irish  Catholics. 

At  this  distant  day,  and  in  the  atmosphere  of  liberality 
and  unfettered  religious  freedom  in  which  we  live,  there 
are  few  who  recall  the  momentous  consequences  which 
the  concession  of  this  long-denied  boon  effected  in  the 
public  affairs  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland — indeed,  we 
might  add  of  Europe  also.  It  electrified  the  Continent, 
and  soon  distant  America  shared  the  famous  enthusiasm 
which  moved  the  Old  World,  and  rejoiced  in  the  emanci- 
pation of  the  Catholics  of  the  British  Empire. 

What  Irishman  can  recall  without  emotion  the  thrill- 
ing scenes  of  the  Clare  election;  and  the  tumultuous 
popular  outbursts  that  everywhere  greeted  O'Connell 
and  his  co-laborers  ?  It  would  not  be  just  to  refer  to 
this  period  without  alluding  to  the  effective  aid  given  to 
the  cause  of  Catholic  emancipation  by  the  ecclesiastical 


176     AGITATION   FOE    REPEAT,    OF   THE   ACT   OF    UNION. 

Junius — the  famous  "  J.  K.  L." — Dr.  Doyle,  bishop  of 
Kildare  arid  Leighlin;  and  by  the  vigorous  pen  of 
"  Hierophilos"  whose  later  well  known  title  of  the  "  Lion 
of  the  Fold  of  Juda"  distinguishes  him  as  the  venerated 
patriarch  of  the  Irish  church — the  scholar,  poet,  contro- 
versialist, theologian,  and  throughout  his  memorable 
career  the  patriot-prelate,  Most  Rev.  John  MacIIale, 
Archbishop  of  Tuam. 

THE  REPEAL  OF  THE  UNION. 

Emancipation  won;  the  campaign  for  the  repeal  of  the 
Union  was  speedily  initiated.  The  question  of  Catholic 
emancipation  had  aroused  the  nation  from  its  apathy  and 
stirred  it  into  life;  the  prospect  of  a  repeal  of  the  hated 
union  enkindled  a  flame  which  soon  encircled  and  swept 
over  the  whole  island  as  by  the  force  of  a  whirlwind. 
The  entire  country  became,  as  it  were,  one  vast  repeal 
camp.  Happily  the  zeal  of  Father  Matthew — the  great 
Apostle  of  Temperance — Ireland's  truest  benefactor  in 
modern  days — had  so  influenced  and  transformed  the 
Irish  masses,  that  the  great  repeal  movement  exhibited  a 
character  for  order  and  sobriety  which  was  scarcely  less 
striking  and  significant  than  the  great  movement  itself. 
Europe  was  moved  to  wonder  and  admiration  by  the  spec- 
tacle of  a  people  thus  united,  and  showing  such  remarka- 
ble powers  of  self-restraint  and  self-control. 

The  resolute,  compact  and  formidable  public  demon- 
strations in  Ireland  during  the  agitation  for  the  repeal  of 
the  Union  have  scarcely  been  paralleled  in  any  country 
before  or  since.  The  attendance  at  the  celebrated  "  mon- 
ster meetings'"  well-nigh  surpass  belief,  and  the  estimates 
given  and  accepted  at  the  time,  seem,  at  best,  extrava- 
gant. 

At  Mallow,  Nenagh,  Cashel,  Mullaghmast,  Skibbereen 
and  Cork,  400,000  to  500,000  at  each  meeting! 

The  monster  meeting  at  the  historic  hill  of  Tara,  Au- 
gust 15,  1843,  is  said  to  have  included  750,000  persons. 

The  London  Times  gave  an  estimate  of  1,000,000  as 
the  attendance. 

These  mighty  manifestations  of  popular  power  and  of 


THE  "MONSTER"  MEETINGS.  177 

popular  confidence  in  O'Connell,  who  became  the  idol  of 
the  people — the  uncrowned  king  of  Ireland — prove  the 
majesty  and  force  of  a  united  public  opinion. 

Ireland  became  the  chief  centre  and  focus  of  the  Eng- 
lish— nay,  even  of  European,  attention.  Ireland,  Irish  af- 
fairs, and  the  Irish  agitation,  gave  the  British  ministry 
more  concern  and  solicitude  than  did  the  foreign  policy 
of  the  Empire  and  of  the  rest  of  the  continent. 

Parliament  was  occupied  mainly  with  Irish  questions; 
the  press  teemed  with  discussions  and  disquisitions  on 
the  pros  and  cons  of  repeal,  and  public  opinion  was 
monopolized  and  divided  on  it. 

There  is  a  significant  lesson  in  the  popular  agitation 
of  those  days  which  has  evidently  impressed  the  leaders 
of  the  present  great  movement  in  Ireland;  and  the  warn- 
ings and  teachings  of  O'Connell  seem  destined  to  bear 
fruit.  First  of  all,  there  should  be  thorough,  and  per- 
fect union,  before  which  brawling  factions  must  give 
way;  and  there  must  be  solidarity  of  purpose  in  the  pur- 
suit of  just  ends  by  lawful  and  practicable  means. 

Secondly,  there  is  need  of  a  leader  who  possesses  the 
qualities  and  character  to  inspire  confidence,  and  whose 
authority  to  direct  and  command  shall  be  universally  ac- 
cepted. 

Thirdly :     Patience. 

In  almost  every  one  of  his  great  speeches  O'Connell 
impressed  on  his  hearers  the  great  lesson  that  moral 
force  should  always  be  preferred  to  physical  force,  and 
this  counsel  sunk  deep  into  the  hearts  of  millions  of 
brave  men  ;  and  the  lessons  of  Irish  history  since  the 
great  agitator's  death  have  only  served  to  stamp  this 
teaching  with  a  new  and  higher  authority. 

The  union  of  Irishmen  was  always  one  of  the  foremost 
aims  of  O'Connell,  and  up  to  1843  he  had  succeeded  to 
an  extent  and  degree  the  like  of  which  had  never  been 
seen  before  in  the  Island. 

Under  O'Connell's  acknowledged  leadership,  the  people 

of  Ireland,  up  to  this  were  united;  they  possessed  a  spirit 

of  unbounded  confidence  in  their  chief  and  in  each  other. 

Divided  councils  had  always  proved  the  ruin  of  the  Irish 

12 


178        O'CONNELL'S  WONDERFUL  INFLUENCE. 

cause  ;  "  divide  est  impera  "  had  been  England's  motto 
from  the  period  of  Strongbow's  invasion  down  to  the 
present,  and  in  the  critical  hours  it  has  not  failed  to  do 
England's  work  in  Ireland. 

O'Connell  saw  the  futility  of  revolutionary  efforts  in 
the  then  existing  situation  of  his  country,  and  he  naturally 
shrunk  from  the  alternative  of  civil  war  with  all  its  preg- 
nant train  of  horrors.  He  believed  success  attainable  with- 
out it,and  was  convinced  that  moral  force  in  the  end  would 
win  self  government  for  Ireland.  He  well  knew,  alas!  Irish 
history  sufficiently  attests  the  melancholy  cost  of  unsuc- 
cessful rebellion  ;  no  one  better  knew  the  condition  and 
resources  of  Ireland,  nor  could  more  accurately  scan  and 
measure  the  resources  of  Ireland's  oppressor. 

"  What  king,"  says  the  good  book,  "  going  to  make 
war  against  another  king,  sitteth  not  down  first  and  con- 
sulteth  whether  he  be  able  with  ten  thousand  to  meet  him 
that  cometh  against  him  with  twenty  thousand  ?" 

As  one  of  the  most  admirable  of  Irish  essayists  puts  the 
case  :  "  They  who  would  by  force  deliberately  revolu- 
tionize, must,  if  true,  thoroughly  ponder  this  question,  and 
in  the  great  court  of  conscience  they  must  not  only  pon- 
der, but  decide.  England  is  at  peace.  England  has 
fleets  and  armies  completely  organized  and  thoroughly 
disciplined.  England  impels  all  the  organic  machinery 
of  the  law  and  of  power.  Within  Ireland  she  has  a  nu- 
merous party,  and  the  most  consummate  statesmanship 
which  would  oppose  Irish  nationality. 

England  has  a  tremendous  artillery,  both  on  the  sea 
and  on  the  land.  Nor  is  her  strength  in  force  alone.  She 
has  on  her  side  the  fears  of  the  timid  and  the  hopes  of 
the  aspiring;  the  distinction  that  allures  the  ambitious, 
and  the  riches  that  bribe  the  sordid,  etc." 

But  there  was  now  growing  up  a  new  generation  in 
Ireland  less  tractable  than  the  masses  O'Connell  had  car- 
ried along  with  him  in  the  Repeal  movement. 

The  Nation,  the  "Library  of  Ireland,"  the  ballads  and 
the  orators,  had  indeed  stirred  the  masses  as  they  had  never 
been  moved  before.  Boys  had  been  growing  up  all  these 
years  amid  excitement  and  popular  commotion.  Within 


THE   PEACE   POLICY   CONSIDERED.  179 

thousands  of  curly  heads  thoughts  and  hopes  had  been 
enkindled.  As  Mitchel  afterwards  wrote,  "  Under  many 
a  thin  little  jacket  who  can  tell  what  a  world  of  noble 
passion  was  set  aglow;  what  haughty  aspirings  for  them- 
selves and  their  ancient  land;  what  hot  shame  for  their 
trampled  country  and  the  dishonored  name  of  their  fath- 
ers— what  honest,  wistful  rage?  Ha!  if  the  thoughtful, 
fiery  boy,  but  lives  to  be  a  man!" 

The  course  and  teachings  of  Mitchel  will  more  natur- 
ally fall  to  a  succeeding  chapter.  The  bitter  scorn  and 
passionate  taunts  which  he  poured  out  against  the  peace- 
able policy  and  moral  force  teaching  of  O'Comiell  is 
known  to  every  Irishman. 

No  writer  since  Swift  had  so  stirred  the  country,  and 
his  famous  letters  to  Lord  Clarendon  equalled  in  force 
and  savage  sarcasm  the  celebrated  Drapier  letters  of  the 
great  Dean  of  St.  Patricks. 

It  would  be  impracticable  to  condense  in  the  limited 
compass  allotted  to  these  chapters  a  fair  estimate,  or  even 
glimpse,  of  CTConnell's  genius  and  character. 

His  life  during  forty  years  was  the  history  of  the  coun- 
try. To  read  the  one  is  to  know  the  other.  He  forced  the 
concession  of  Catholic  Emancipation.  He  attacked  the 
Protestant  Church  establishment  in  Ireland,  curbed  it 
and  laid  the  foundation  for  Gladstone's  great  measure  of 
Dis-establishment  in  1869. 

He  was  a  powerful  auxiliary  in  the  cause  of  Parliamen- 
tary Reform  and  he  strongly  urged  Manhood  Suffrage, 
and  the  Vote  by  Ballot.  He  supported  the  scheme  of  Ed- 
ucation which  had  tho  sanction  of  religion  and  common 
sense.  He  consistently  maintained  throughout  his  entire 
career  the  principles  of  Civil  and  Religious  liberty  for  all, 
without  distinction  of  creed,  caste  or  color.  He  won  Cor- 
porate Reform  and  the  Borough  Franchise,  and  by  his  aid 
Free-trade  was  carried  in  Parliament. 

He  opposed  "  Orangeism,"  and  every  form  of  secret 
societies,  as  contrary  alike  to  the  teachings  of  religion,  to 
reason,  and  to  right  principles. 

He  strongly  denounced  absenteeism,  even  going  so  far 
as  to  propose  to  tax  absentee  landlords. 


180     O'CONNELL  TRUE  TO  CIVIL  AND  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY. 

O'Connell  long  ago  pleaded  for  and  demanded  a  report 
and  revision  of  the  code  of  land  laws,  and  the  agitation  at 
present  in  progress  in  Ireland,  if  adhered  to  in  the  spirit 
of  current  declarations  by  its  recognized  leaders,  is  in  the 
main  only  a  reiteration  of  O'Connell's  declared  policies 
and  teachings. 

But  after  all,  the  crowning  and  enduring  works  of  his 
life  are  embodied  in  the  paramount  achievements  for 
which  he  struggled  and  with  which  his  name  is  most  con- 
spicuously and  prominently  identified:  Catholic  Eman- 
cipation, and  the  Repeal  of  the  Union. 

The  arrest  and  trial  of  O'Connell  and  the  other  "  Re- 
peal Martyrs"  in  1843-4  ;  the  awful  famine-blight  which 
swept  over  the  Island  in  1845  (which  will  be  alluded  to 
more  fully  elsewhere  in  these  chapters)  and  the  subse- 
quent death  of  O'Connell  at  Genoa  in  1847,  ends  the 
chronicle  of  the  later  events  in  a  career  so  memorable  in 
Irish  history. 

The  celebration  of  the  O'Connell  Centenary  in  1875, 
recalls  the  world-wide  homage  paid  to  the  memory  of 
Ireland's  great  popular  leader.  That  fame  will  not  grow 
dim  or  be  obscured  by  the  lapse  of  time,  and  the  critical 
judgment  of  posterity. 

THE    FAMIXE. 

The  ominous  intelligence  now  daily  flashed  across  the 
Atlantic  from  Ireland — "  Distress  increasing;  aid  urgently 
needed," — gives  a  fresh  and  mournful  interest  to  the  story 
of  the  awful  famine  visitation  and  potato-blight  of  1846. 

In  the  autumn  of  1845  it  became  plainly  manifest  that 
a  large  part  of  the  DOtato  crop — the  chief  staple  of  food  of 
the  Irish  peasantry — would  fail,  though  at  the  time  the 
awful  extent  and  consequences  of  the  impending  calam- 
ity was  not  fully  realized. 

In  1846  almost  the  entire  potato  crop  throughout  Ire- 
land was  destroyed,  and  the  horrible  spectre  of  famine 
shadowed  the  whole  country. 

The  public  journals  chronicled  in  full  detail  accounts 
of  the  progress  and  extent  of  the  dread  visitation.  Eng- 
land and  the  world  generally  were  apprised  of  it.  The 


THE   FAMINE   VISITATION   IN    1846.  181 

destruction  of  the  food  of  a  whole  people  was  a  startling 
phenomenon  almost  without  parallel  in  modern  times, 
and  the  civilized  world  naturally  was  moved  and  ap- 
palled. 

The  Catholic  prelates  and  priests  of  Ireland,  the  press 
and  the  public  men  of  the  country,  early  called  the  atten- 
tion of  the  British  ministry  to  the  danger  of  the  impend- 
ing distress,  and  the  need  of  prompt  measures  on  the 
part  of  the  government  to  avert,  or  at  all  events,  to  miti- 
gate the  ravages  of  the  famine.  O'Connell's  last  speech 
in  the  British  House  of  Commons  was  an  appeal,  not  for 
charity,  but  for  justice  to  Ireland. 

He  stated  (1),  that  famine  and  pestilence  were  immi- 
nent unless  the  government  took  prompt  measures  against 
them;  (2),  that  this  could  best  be  done  by  employing  the 
people  in  works  of  national  utility;  (3),  that  the  ports 
ought  to  be  closed  against  the  exportation  of  corn  (grain); 
(4),  that  public  granaries  ought  to  be  established  in  vari- 
ous parts  of  the  country,  the  corn  to  be  sold  at  moderate 
prices;  and  (5),  that  the  use  of  grain  for  distillation  ought 
to  be  stopped. 

The  present  English  Prime  Minister,  Lord  Beacons- 
field,  has  thus  described  the  appearance  of  O'Connell  on 
the  occasion  of  his  last  pathetic  appeal  to  parliament,  in. 
behalf  of  the  country  and  people  he  loved,  and  had  served 
so  long  and  faithfully: 

"  When  the  order  of  the  day  for  resuming  the  ad- 
journed debate  was  read,  Mr.  O'Connell  rose  at  once  to 
propose  an  amendment  to  the  motion.  He  sate  in  an  un- 
usual place — in  that  generally  occupied  by  the  leader  of 
the  opposition,  and  spoke  from  the  red  box,  convenient 
to  him  from  the  number  of  documents  to  which  he  had  to 
refer. 

"  His  appearance  was  of  great  debility,  and  the  tones  of 
his  voice  were  very  still.  His  words,  indeed,  only  reached 
those  who  were  immediately  around  him,  and  the  minis- 
ters sitting  on  the  other  side  of  the  green  table,  and  lis- 
tening with  that  interest  and  respectful  attention  which 
became  the  occasion.  It  was  a  strange  and  touching 
spectacle  to  those  who  remembered  the  form  of  colossal 


182        O'CONNELL'S  LAST  APPEAL  TO  ENGLAND. 

energy,  and  the  clear  and  thrilling  tones  that  had  once 
startled,  disturbed  and  controlled  Senates."  O'Connell's  ap- 
peal fell  upon  cold  and  unwilling  ears.  The  government 
adopted  a  hesitating,  pottering  policy.  Some  few  grants 
in  aid  of  public  works  were  made,  numerous  "  commis- 
sions of  enquiry"  appointed,  and  that  was  all.  The  fam- 
ine was  not  stayed;  its  ravages  and  the  appalling  des- 
truction by  famine-fever  were  scarcely  mitigated  by  any 
of  the  efforts  of  the  government.  It  is  true  the  private 
charity  of  the  English  people  was  not  wanting  during  the 
terrible  crisis;  and  the  records  of  the  famine  years  show  a 
measure  of  private  bounty  on  their  part  that  is  in  striking 
contrast  with  the  niggardliness  of  the  English  Govern- 
ment. 

The  munificence  of  the  people  of  America — the  enthu- 
siasm with  which  they  flew  to  the  rescue  of  the  starving 
people  of  Ireland,  was  memorable  beyond  precedent. 

Public  meetings  were  held  in  all  the  principal  cities 
and  towns  in  the  United  States.  Money  and  supplies 
were  lavishly  contributed;  Congress  was  appealed  to  for 
the  grant  of  the  use  of  national  vessels  to  carry  corn  and 
other  food  to  the  shores  of  Ireland,  and  the  favor  was 
promptly  granted. 

There  was  seen  the  uncommon  spectacle  of  ships  of 
war  approaching  a  foreign  shore,  not  to  destroy  life,  but 
to  preserve  it — their  guns  being  taken  out  to  afford  more 
room  for  stowage  of  provisions  and  grain. 

The  "Jamestown,"  a  sloop  of  war,  was  freighted  by 
the  people  of  Massachusetts  with  8,000  barrels  of  flour. 
She  sailed  from  Boston  the  28th  of  March,  1847,  and  ar- 
rived at  Cork  the  12th  of  April.  The  people  of  Cork  and 
vicinity  received  the  officers  of  the  vessel  with  great  en- 
thusiasm, and  gave  them  a  soiree  in  Cork,  at  which  the 
celebrated  Father  Matthew  assisted. 

SPEECH    OF   THOMAS    F.    MEAGIIER. 

Amongst  the  earliest  ships  which  arrived  freighted  with 
corn  from  New  York,  was  the  Victor,  Capt.  Clarke.  He 
was  invited  with  his  officers  to  a  dinner  in  the  historic 
pillar  room  of  the  Rotunda,  at  Dublin.  At  the  banquet 


SPEECH   OF   THOMAS   F.    MEAGHEK.  183 

in  reply  to  a  toast,  "  The  Ladies  of  America,"  Thomas 
Francis  Meagher  spoke  as  follows: 

"  Strange  scene!  Ireland,  the  beaten  and  the  bankrupt, 
entertains  America,  the  victorious  and  the  prosperous! 

Stranger  still!  The  flag  of  the  Victor  decorates  this 
hall — decorates  our  harbor — not,  indeed,  in  triumph,  but 
in  sympathy — not  to  commemorate  the  defeat,  but  to  pre- 
dict the  resurrection,  of  a  fallen  people! 

One  thing  is  certain — we  are  sincere  upon  this  occa- 
sion. There  is  truth  in  this  compliment.  For  the  first 
time  in  her  career,  Ireland  has  reason  to  be  grateful  to  a 
foreign  power. 

Foreign  power,  Sir!  Why  should  I  designate  that 
country  a  "foreign  power,"  which  has  proved  itself  our 
sister  country? 

England,  they  sometimes  say,  is  our  sister  country. 
We  deny  the  relationship — we  discard  it.  We  claim 
America  as  our  sister,  and  claiming  her  as  such,  we  have 
assembled  here  this  night. 

Should  a  stranger,  viewing  this  brilliant  scene,  inquire 
of  me,  why  it  is  that,  amid  the  desolation  of  this  day — 
whilst  famine  is  in  the  land — whilst  the  hearse-plumes 
darken  the  summer  scenery  of  the  island — whilst  death 
sows  his  harvest,  and  the  earth  teems  not  with  the  seeds 
of  life,  but  with  the  seeds  of  corruption — should  he  in- 
quire of  me,  why  it  is,  that,  amid  this  desolation,  we 
hold  high  festival,  hang  out  our  banners,  and  thus  ca- 
rouse— I  should  reply,  "Sir,  the  citizens  of  Dublin  have 
met  to  pay  a  compliment  to  a  plain  citizen  of  America, 
which  they  would  not  pay — '  no  not  for  all  the  gold  in 
Venice' — to  the  minister  of  England." 

Pursuing  his  inquiries,  should  he  ask,  why  is  this?  I 
should  reply,  "  Sir,  there  is  a  country  lying  beneath  that 
crimson  canopy  on  which  we  gaze  in  these  bright  eve- 
nings— a  country  exulting  in  a  vigorous  and  victorious 
youth — a  country  with  which  we  are  incorporated  by  no 
Union  Act — a  country  from  which  we  are  separated,  not 
by  a  little  channel,  but  by  a  mighty  ocean — and  this  dis- 
tant country,  finding  that  our  island,  after  an  affiliation 
for  centuries  with  the  most  opulent  kingdom  on  earth, 


184:  SPEECH   OF   THOMAS   F.    MEAGHEE. 

has  been  plunged  into  the  deepest  excesses  of  destitu- 
tion and  disease — and  believing-  that  those  fine  ships 
which,  a  few  years  since,  were  the  avenging  angels  of 
freedom,  and  guarded  its  domain  with  a  sword  of  fire, 
might  be  intrusted  with  a  kindlier  mission,  and  be  the 
messengers  of  life  as  they  had  been  the  messengers  of 
death — guided  not  by  the  principles  of  political  economy, 
but  impelled  by  the  holiest  passions  of  humanity — this 
young  nation  has  come  to  our  rescue,  and  thus  we  behold 
the  eagle — which,  by  the  banks  of  the  Delaware,  scared 
away  the  spoiler  from  its  offspring — we  behold  this  eagle 
speeding*  across  the  wave,  to  chase  from  the  shores  of 
Old  Dunleary,  the  vulture  of  the  Famine 

If  the  right  of  taxation  had  not  been  legally  disputed 
in  the  village  of  Lexington — if  the  Stamp  Act  had  net 
been  constitutionally  repealed  on  the  plains  of  Saratoga — 
America  would  not  now  possess  the  wealth  out  of  which 
she  relieves  the  indigence  of  Ireland. 

The  toast,  moreover,  to  which  you  have  invited  me  to 
speak,  dictates  a  noble  lesson  to  this  country.  The  ladies 
of  America  refused  to  wear  English  manufacture.  The 
ladies  of  America  refused  to  drink  the  tea  that  came  taxed 
from  England.  If  you  honor  these  illustrious  ladies,  im- 
itate their  virtue,  and  be  their  rivals  in  heroic  citizen- 
ship. 

If  their  example  be  imitated  here,  I  think  the  day  will 
come  when  the  Irish  flag  will  be  hailed  in  the  port  of 
Boston.  But  if,  in  the  vicissitudes  to  which  all  nations 
are  exposed,  danger  should  fall  upon  the  great  Republic, 
and  if  the  choice  be  made  to  us  to  desert  or  befriend  the 
land  of  Washington  and  Franklin,  I,  for  one,  will  prefer 
to  be  grateful  to  the  Samaritan,  rather  than  be  loyal  to 
the  Levite." 

The  "  Macedonian,"  another  ship  of  war  arrived  later, 
conveying  about  550  tons  of  provisions.  Both  ships  were 
manned  by  volunteers. 

The  total  contributions  received  from  America  by  the 
"Central  Relief  Committee  of  the  Society  of  Friends," 
were:  Money,  £15,976  18s.  2d.;  provisions,  9,911  tons, 
valued  at  £133,847  7s.  7d.;  642  packages  of  clothing  were 


MUNIFICENCE   OF   THE   AMERICAN   PEOPLE.          185 

also  received,  the  precise  value  of  which  was  not  exactly 
ascertained.  The  provisions  were  carried  in  91  vessels, 
the  united  freights  of  which  amounted  to  £33.017  5s.  7d. 
The  American  railroads  and  transportation  companies 
carried,  free  of  charge  to  the  Eastern  seaboard,  all  pack- 
ages marked  "  Ireland."  In  fact,  the  supplies  and  money 
sent  from  America  were  on  a  scale  unparalled  in  history. 

Some  of  the  older  citizens  of  Chicago  can  recall  the 
public  meeting  held  in  this  city  in  the  summer  of  1847, 
in  aid  of  the  Irish  famine  sufferers,  at  which  Lyle  Smith 
made  a  speech  of  thrilling  and  surpassing  eloquence — the 
memory  and  fame  of  which  alone  remains. 

The  appalling  horrors  of  the  famine  years,  1845,  1846, 
1847,  will  never  be  fully  known,  and  the  loss  of  life  by 
famine  and  fever  (the  consequence  of  hunger)  can  only 
be  approximated.  Will  it  be  credited  that  at  one  time 
3,020,712  persons  weie  in  receipt  of  relief  rations? 

The  scenes  that  are  related  of  the  ravages  of  the  fam- 
ine are  almost  too  hideous  and  revolting  for  perusal.  The 
contemporary  journals  were  full  of  the  most  horrifying 
details;  whole  families  found  dead  in  their  cabins;  corpses 
too  numerous  to  be  always  coffined  flung  in  heaps  into 
pits,  rooted  up  afterwards  by  pigs;  crowds  of  women  and 
children  scattered  over  the  turnip-fields  like  a  crowd  of 
famishing  crows,  devouring  the  raw  turnips,  and  mostly 
half  naked,  shivering  in  the  snow  and  sleet,  uttering  ex- 
clamations of  despair  and  hunger. 

In  other  instances  villages  were  found  apparently  de- 
serted, and  when  an  examination  was  made  of  the 
wretched  cabins  composing  it,  the  ghastly  skeletons  of 
the  emaciated  inhabitants  would  be  found  huddled  in  a 
corner  on  a  little  filthy  straw — the  living,  if  those  could 
be  said  to  have  life  who  still  breathed — and  the  dead  in- 
termingled under  the  same  scanty  covering. 

The  artist  of  the  Illustrated  London  Neics,  in  his  let- 
ter from  Skibbereen  to  that  journal,  Feb.  13, 1847,  wrote: 
"  Up  to  this  morning,  I,  like  a  portion,  I  fear,  of  the  com- 
munity, looked  on  the  diaries  of  Dr.  Donovan,  as  pub- 
lished in  the  Cork  Southern  Reporter,  to  be  bright  col- 
ored pictures,  doubtless  intended  for  a  good  and  humane 


186  APPALLING   HOKROKS    OF   THE   FAMINE. 

purpose;  but  I  can  now  with  perfect  confidence  say  that 
neither  pen  nor  pencil  ever  could  portray  the  misery  and 
horror  at  this  moment  to  be  witnessed  in  Skibbereen" 
Another  English  writer,  Mr.  A.  Shai'to  Adair,  F.  R.  S., 
himself  a  landlord  of  large  possessions  in  the  county  An- 
trim, in  a  published  volume  on  the  subject  of  the  famine, 
etc.,  says:  "I  do  not  think  it  possible  for  an  English 
reader,  however  powerful  his  imagination,  to  conceive  the 
state  of  Ireland  during  the  past  winter,  or  its  pres  nt 
condition. 

Famines  and  plagues  will  suggest  themselves,  with 
their  ghastly  and  repulsive  incidents — the  dead  mother, 
the  dying  infant,  the  feast  of  cannibals,  Athens,  Jerusa- 
lem, Marseilles. 

But  these  awful  facts  stand  forth  as  dark  spots  in  the 
illuminated  chronicles  of  time  ;  episodes,  it  may  be,  of 
some  magnificent  epoch  in  a  nation's  history — tragedies 
acted  in  remote  times,  or  in  distant  regions — the  actors, 
the  inhabitants  of  beleaguered  cities,  or  the  citizens  of  a 
narrow  territory.  But  here  the  tragedy  is  enacted  with 
no  narrower  limits  than  the  boundaries  of  a  kingdom  ; 
the  victims — an  entire  people — within  our  own  days,  at 
our  own  thresholds.  " 

THE    CAUSE    AXD    TIIE    CUKE. 

The  London  Times,  under  date  of  26th  June,  1845,  in 
advance  of  the  famine  visitation,  though  some  then 
alarming  distress  existed  in  Ireland,  published  an  article 
on  "  Irish  Destitution,"  in  which  the  following  sentences 
occur : 

"  The  facts  of  Irish  destitution  are  ridiculously  simple. 
They  are  almost  too  commonplace  to  be  told.  The  peo- 
ple have  not  enough  to  eat.  They  are  suffering  a  real, 
though  an  artificial  famine. 

"Nature  does  her  duty.  The  land  is  fruitful  enough. 
Nor  can  it  be  fairly  said  that  man  is  wanting.  The  Irish- 
man is  disposed  to  work.  In  fact  man  and  nature  to- 
gether produce  abundantly.  The  island  is  full  with 
overflowing  food.  But  something  ever  interposes  be- 
tween the  hungry  mouth  and  the  ample  banquet. 


THE   SECRET   OF   CHRONIC   IRISH    MISERY.  187 

The  famished  victim  of  a  mysterious  sentence  stretches 
out  his  hands  to  the  viands  which  his  own  industry  has 
placed  before  his  eyes,  but  no  sooner  are  they  touched 
than  they  fly.  A  perpetual  decree  of  sic  vos  non  vobis 
condemns  him  to  toil  without  enjoyment.  Social  atrophy 
drains  off  the  vital  juices  of  the  nation." 

Here  lies  the  secret  of  chronic  Irish  misery  and  dis- 
tress. The  Act  of  Union  had  crippled  Ireland  in  all  her 
resources  and  effected  to  paralyze  all  her  industries.  To 
eke  a  subsistence  out  of  the  soil  was  the  sole  and  only 
employment  and  alternative  for  the  poor  Irish  peasant; 
and  the  evils  of  a  monstrous  land-system,  combined  with 
absenteeism,  drained  Ireland  of  the  capital  which  under  a 
home  government  and  the  operation  of  more  benign  laws 
would  be  expended  in  the  country.  The  rental  drawn  by 
absentees  up  to  the  time  of  the  famine  is  estimated  at 
$15,000,000  annually,  and  to  this  add  the  enormous  amount 
drawn  out  of  Ireland  in  taxes,  about  $5,000,000  annually, 
from  1800  to  1846,  and  it  will  readily  be  seen  that  the 
country  must  be  impoverished  by  this  enormous  drain. 
Moreover,  all  domestic  manufactures  had  long  been  para- 
lyzed or  driven  out  of  existence.  In  1840  a  report  drawn 
up  by  Mr.  Ray,  Secretary  of  the  Repeal  Association,  was 
published,  showing  the  decay  in  all  branches  of  the  in- 
dustries which,  prior  to  the  Act  of  Union,  had  been  in 
successful  operation — notably  the  cotton,  woolen  and  silk 
manufactures. 

"  In  the  early  part  of  the  present  century,"  reports 
Mr.  Ray,  "  the  cotton  trade  extended  itself  through  several 
parts  of  Ireland,  and  was  carried  on  to  a  considerable  ex- 
tent in  Dublin,  Drogheda,  Calian,  Stratford,  Mount  Mell- 
ick,  Limerick  and  Bandon.  Belfast,  however,  was  the 
center  to  which  capital  and  skill  were  attracted. 

"For  all  practical  purposes  the  cotton  manufacture  may 
almost  be  considered  as  extinct  in  all  other  parts  of  Ire- 
land." 

It  was  estimated  that  over  $5,000,000  annually  was  sent 
out  of  Ireland  for  English  manufactures,  that  had  found 
an  Irish  market  on  the  ruin  of  the  native  industries. 

In  1798,  Lord  Chancellor  Clare  wrote:  "There  is  not  a 


188        IRELAND    HAD   NO    POWER   OF    SELF-DEFENSE. 

nation  on  the  face  of  the  earth  which  has  advanced  in 
cultivation,  in  agriculture  and  manufactures,  with  such 
rapidity  as  Ireland."  The  bankers  of  Dublin  the  same 
year,  as  well  as  the  Guild  of  merchants,  passed  resolutions 
to  the  effect  that:  "The  commerce  of  Ireland  has  in- 
creased, and  her  manufactures  have  improved  beyond  ex- 
ample, since  the  Independence  of  this  Kingdom  was  re- 
stored by  the  exertions  of  our  own  countrymen  in  1782." 
After  the  Union  all  this  progress  was  arrested. 

In  1843  Mr.  Kirwan,  a  merchant  of  Dublin,  made  the 
following  statement  at  a  meeting  of  the  corporation  of 
that  city,  and  the  statement  was  admitted  to  be  correct 
by  his  political  opponents  : 

"  He  recollected  the  time,"  he  said,  "  when  there  was 
commerce  and  commercial  wealth  in  Dublin  ;  when  there 
was  business  in  their  custom  house  ;  when  they  had  ships 
in  their  docks  from  Virginia,  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
Russia,  Prussia,  Sweden  and  Denmark.  Was  there  a  for- 
eign ship  to  be  seen  in  them  at  present  ?  not  one  !  He 
remembered  to  have  seen  25  ships  from  the  United  States 
there.  There  had  been  none  for  years,"  etc.,  etc. 

Thus  it  was  that  Ireland  became  thoroughly  impover- 
ished, and  possessed  within  herself  no  power^of  self  defense 
against  the  visitation  of  the  famine  blight.  She  could  not 
accumulate  capital  when  all  the  resources  of  her  people 
were  carried  off  to  England  to  pay  absentee  rents  and 
absentee  taxes,  and  to  meet  the  other  drains  caused  by 
unfriendly  legislation. 

The  remedy  lay  in  a  total  change  in  the  system  of  land 
tenure  and  the  concession  of  Home  Rule,  or  according  to 
O'Connell's  plan,  a  "Repeal  of  the  Union." 

OLD  AND  YOUNG  IRELAND. 

But  few  of  those  who  battled  with  O'Connell  for  Re- 
peal remain,  and  alas!  the  exiles  of  '48  are  rapidly  pass- 
ing away.  It  is  full  time  that  Irishmen  both  at  home  and 
abroad  concurred  in  burying  forever  political  passions 
and  resentments  which  so  long  have  divided  and  weak- 
ened their  power  and  influence. 

The  bitter  lesson  of  experience  should  teach  them  wis- 


O'COXNELL   AND   THE   "MEN   OF    '48."  189 

dom.  To  defame,  to  malign,  to  belittle,  is  peculiar  only 
to  mean  minds  and  base  hearts. 

The  genius  and  talent  shown  by  Irishmen  ought  to  be 
a  source  of  just  pride  to  the  sons  of  the  Green  Isle  ;  it 
reflects  honor  on  all  her  children,  and  will  forever  illu- 
minate Irish  history.  Why  then  disparage  the  glory  and 
just  fame  of  O'Connell  ?  The  splendor  of  his  genius  and 
the  renown  of  his  great  achievements  is  of  world-wide 
recognition. 

These  have  passed  into  history,  and  if  it  be  natural  to 
exult  in  the  recollection  of  O'Connell's  memorable  ca- 
reer, it  is  equally  natural  that  the  patriotism  and  heroic 
sacrifices  of  the  men  of  '  48  should  not  be  forgotten.  No 
wonder  that  their  ballads  captivated  and  enlisted  the 
youth  of  Ireland! 

Whatsoever  was  brilliant  in  literature,  inspiring  in 
love,  ennobling  in  art,  and  captivating  in  oratory,  was 
arrayed  on  the  side  of  the  young  enthusiasts. 

The  poetry  of  Moore,  and  the  fascinating  fictions  of 
Griffin,  Banim,  and  Lover,  had  prepared  the  way  for  the 
new  regime. 

Davis's  luminous  essays  and  soul-stirring  lyrics; 
Mitchel's  piercing,  scornful  invective;  McGee's  glitter- 
ing rhetoric  and  stirring  songs;  Mangan's  wierd,  fanciful 
chaunts;  the  sweet  strains  of  "  Mary,"  and  of  "  Eva;"  the 
poetic  appeals  of  "  Speranza" — but  why  attempt  to  reca- 
pitulate?— the  genius  of  Ireland  seemed  to  have  poured 
out  with  unstinted  measures  all  the  gifts,  and  concentrated 
in  this  party  all  the  talents  necessary  to  inspire  and  exalt  a 
people.  Hitherto  Ireland  had  no  literature — at  least  not 
since  the  far  remote  period  when  from  the  most  distant 
parts  of  Europe,  scholars  flocked  to  study  in  the  schools 
and  universities  which  dotted  the  island  in  the  golden 
age  of  her  annals.  Now,  as  if  by  magic,  her  history  and 
traditions  were  taken  up  by  scores  of  pens  ;  her  songs 
had  been  but  street-ballads  or  the  half  forgotten  plaint  of 
wandering  bards;  instantly  a  throng  of  inspired  poets 
gave  to  Ireland  and  to  song  melodies  which  at  once 
charmed  and  inspired,  and  which  are  still  sung  the  world 
over. 


190  REPUBLICAN   IDEAS   PROPAGATED. 

The  arts  were  invoked  and  Barry,  Mulready  and 
Maclise,  Hogan  and  Foley  gave  to  painting  and  to  sculp- 
ture many  of  the  noblest  productions  of  human  genius. 
In  oratory !  but  why  recall  names  and  themes  ?  A 
glance  at  the  text-books  in  schools  and  colleges  will 
demonstrate  how  copious  and  abundant  are  the  proofs  of 
Irish  forensic  renown. 

YOUNG   IRELAND. 

In  the  midst  of  this  popular  fermentation,  it  is  not  to 
be  wondered  at  that  many  of  the  young  enthusiasts  who 
engaged  in  the  repeal  movement,  impatient  of  delay  and 
restraint,  looked  beyond  the  prospect  of  mere  repeal,  and 
dreamed  of  a  complete  and  entire  separation  from  Eng- 
land. 

Circumstances  suggested  and  seemed  even  to  favor  the 
boldest  and  wildest  aspirations. 

The  rumbling  of  the  impending  revolutions  was  plain- 
ly heard  all  over  the  continent  ;  kings  were  trembling  ; 
thrones  were  tottering  ;  and  in  every  city  of  Europe 
pens  wrote  and  tongues  preached  the  popular  republican 
doctrines  and  ideas. 

The  Dublin  Nation,  at  this  time  had  become  conspicu- 
ously the  powerful  organ  of  public  opinion  in  Ireland. 

No  public  journal  ever  embraced  in  its  service  a  more 
brilliant  or  a  more  distinguished  corps  of  writers  and 
contributors  than  did  the  Nation  when  it  was  guided  by 
Charles  Gavan  Duffy. 

To  enumerate  them  would  be  to  recall  almost  all  the 
names  known  to  the  world  in  modern  Irish  literature. 
Thomas  Davis,  James  Clarence  Mangan,  Joseph  Brenan, 
Richard  D'Alton  Williams,  Thomas  D'Arcy  McGee,  Dan- 
iel Ferguson,  Thomas  Devin  Reilley,  Michael  Doheny, 
Thomas  MacNevin,  John  B.  Dillon,  Dr.  Antisel,  John  Sav- 
age, Stephen  J.  Meany,  Rev.  C.  P.  Meehan,  P.  J.  Smythe, 
now  member  of  Parliment  and  John  Mitchel. 

Nor  was  the  fair  sex  unrepresented  in — as  may  bo 
expected — the  "Poets'  Corner:"  witness  "  Speranza .  " 
(Lady  Wilde)  "  Mary,"  "  Eva,"  and  others  whose  literary 
noin  de  plume  will  be  familiar  at  least  to  Irish  readers  of 
the  older  class. 


SECESSION    OF    YOUNG    IRELAND.  191 

This  galaxy  of  talent  founded  a  new  school,  not  only 
in  literature  but  in  politics  as  well — a  school  peculiarly 
and  distinctively  national,  "  racy  of  the  soil." 

The  Nation  thus  became  the  centre  and  organ  of  all 
that  was  brilliant  in  literature,  and  bold,  ardent  and  even 
audacious  in  politics. 

Almost  every  writer  was  an  orator,  and  there  were 
orators  as  well  as  writers. 

Smith  O'Brien,  Meagher,  O'Gorman,  O'Dogherty, 
O'Donoughue,  MacManus,  and  others  too  numerous  to  ad- 
mit of  mention.  How  they  blazed  and  thundered  on  the 
platform  and  at  the  hustings  !  And  what  magnificent 
phillipics  were  launched  in  the  columns  of  the  popular 
journal  against  the  English  government  and  its  myrmi- 
dons in  Dublin  Castle  ! 

Whilst  O'Connell  and  the  orators  of  the  Repeal  Assoc- 
iation were  careful  to  inculcate  the  wisdom  and  duty  of 
obedience  to  law,  and  insisted  on  the  force  and  power  of 
moral  agencies  as  a  sufficient  means  to  redress  Irish 
grievances,  and  especially  to  effect  the  coveted  "  Repeal 
of  the  Union,"  the  enthusiasts  of  the  Young  Ireland  party 
were  led  farther  and  farther  away  from  the  influence  and 
teachings  of  the  great  agitator;  and  soon  the  divergence 
became  too  visible  to  be  misunderstood — a  separation  be- 
came inevitable. 

We  do  not  purpose  entering  into  a  detailed  history  of 
the  causes  which  led  to  this  much  to  be  regretted  separa- 
tion; and  we  only  allude  to  it  here  because  without  it  a 
resume  of  Irish  affairs  in  the  years  of  the  great  Repeal 
agitation  would  be  visibly  and  manifestly  incomplete 
and  unsatisfactory. 

The  earnestness,  the  honesty  of  purpose,  the  exalted 
patriotism  of  the  principal  leaders  of  the  Young  Ireland 
party,  cannot  be  impugned. 

Nearly  all  of  them  sacrificed  fortune,  personal  pros- 
pects, liberty,  and  not  a  few  of  them  even  life  itself  (in 
English  penal  servitude  or  as  a  consequence  of  exile),  in 
testimony  of  their  devotion  to  Ireland.  The  wisdom  and 
prudence  of  their  public  course  may  be  called  in  question; 
their  patriotism  and  devotion  never! 


ATTEMPT   AT   ORGANIZED    EMIGRATION   IN    1822. 

Nor  should  the  services  of  the  gallant  Young  Ireland 
party  to  the  cause  of  Irish  National  literature  be  for- 
gotten. While  Eugene  O'Curry,  Dr.  O'Donovan  and  Prof. 
Petrie  were  delving  in  the  mine  of  ancient  Irish  litera- 
ture, unearthing  forgotten  MSS.,  restoring,  .transcribing, 
and  translating  the  venerable  and,  but  for  their  zeal,  the 
hopelessly  lost  treasures  of  Irish  archreological  literature; 
another  more  numerous  and  a  more  brilliant  band  of  writ- 
ers were  engaged  creating,  illustrating  and  embellishing 
every  department  of  prose  and  poetry. 

The  "  Library  of  Ireland,"  alone  would  be  a  creditable 
and  valuable  acquisition  to  the  literature  of  any  country; 
and  an  impetus  was  given  to  Irish  authorship  by  the  enthu- 
siasm of  the  period,  the  effects  of  which  are  still  plainly 
felt  in.  Ireland. 

THE    IRISH    EXODUS. 

Previous  to  the  years  of  the  Irish  famine  there  had  been 
a  large  and  steadily  increasing  emigration  from  Ireland. 
The  potato  crop  failure  in  1822  led  to  a  partial  famine  in 
the  following  years,  and  this  was  succeeded  by  an  attempt 
at  organized  emigration.  The  government  undertook  to 
direct  and  superintend  this  movement,  which  thus  received 
official  importance,  and  the  first  colony  of  emigrants  in 
1823  were  sent  out  to  Canada  and  settled  at  a  place  then 
known  as  Peterborough,  in  number  568  persons. 

The  government  paid  the  cost  of  transportation  and 
supported  the  colonists  for  eighteen  months  after  landing, 
the  cost  being  about  £22  or  $110  per  capita. 

In  1825,  the  Hon.  Peter  Robinson,  a  government  com- 
missioner, took  out  2,024  emigrants  under  the  same  con- 
ditions of  subsidy  from  the  government.  What  was  the 
fate  of  these  Irish  colonists  in  Canada  ? 

John  Francis  Maguire,  in  his  admirable  work  on  "  The 
Irish  in  America,"  thus  refers  to  the  Peterborough  settle- 
ment as  he  saw  it  in  18G6-7  : 

"  The  shanty  and  the  wigwam,  and  the  log  hut  have 
long  since  given  place  to  the  mansion  of  brick  and  stone; 
and  the  hand-sleigh  and  the  rude  cart  to  the  strong  wagon 
and  the  well-appointed  carriage. 


THE   DEVON   LAND    COMMISSION.  193 

"Where  there  was  but  one  miserable  grist  mill,  there 
are  now  mills  and  factories  of  various  kinds.  And  not 
only  are  there  spacious  schools  under  the  control  of  those 
who  erected  them  and  made  use  of  them  for  their  children, 
but  the  "  heavy  grievance  "  which  existed  in  1825,  has 
long  since  been  a  thing  of  the  past  (an  allusion  to  the 
operation  of  the  unfair  school  laAvs  of  Canada  in  the  early 
part  of  the  century,  an  injustice  long  since  repaired — 
an  example,  by  the  way,  which  Americans  would  do 
well  to  profit  by. — Compiler.)  "  The  little  chapel  of  logs 
and  shingles,  18  feet  by  20,  in  which  the  settlers  of  that 
day  knelt  in  gratitude  to  God,  has  for  many  years  been 
replaced  by  a  noble  stone  church,  through  whose  painted 
windows  the  Canadian  sunlight  streams  gloriously,  and 
in  which  2,000  worshippers  listen  with  the  old  Irish  rever- 
ence to  the  words  of  their  pastor.  The  tones  of  the  peal- 
ing organ  swells  in  solemn  harmony  where  the  simple 
chant  of  the  first  settlers  was  raised  in  the  midst  of  the 
wilderness,  and  for  miles  around  may  the  voice  of  the 
the  great  bell,  swinging  in  its  lofty  tower,  be  heard  in 
the  calm  of  the  Lord's  day,  summoning  the  children  of 
St.  Patrick  to  worship  in  the  faith  of  their  fathers." 

The  attention  of  the  British  or  Imperial  Parliament 
was  frequently  called  to  the  subject  of  emigration,  and 
numerous  reports  concerning  it  appear  in  the  Blue  Books. 
As  a  rule  all  the  official  reports  on  the  question  were  ad- 
verse to  the  continuance  of  government  aid.  This  was 
true  up  to  the  period  of  the  celebrated  Devon  land  com- 
mission, which  in  1842  undertook  the  formidable  labor 
of  investigating  and  reporting  to  Parliament  on  the  then 
existing  land  question  in  both  countries. 

The  report  of  this  commission  presented  to  Parliament 
in  1845,  recommended  emigration  from  Ireland  as  "one 
among  the  measures  which  the  situation  of  the  occupiers 
of  the  land  in  Ireland  at  present  calls  for."  The  total 
colonist  and  foreign  emigration,  that  is  to  other  than 
British  dependencies,  between  1831  and  1841,  amounted 
to  403,459  ;  and  the  official  returns  add  25,012  for  proba- 
ble births,  in  transit.  214,047  embarked  from  Irish 
13 


194:       NUMBER   OF   EMIGRANTS   FROM    1841    TO    1851. 

ports,  152,738  from  Liverpool,  and  to  these  ten  per  cent, 
should  be  added  for  imperfect  returns. 

Of  those  who  went  from  Ireland  76,905  sailed  from 
ports  in  Ulster;  70,046  from  Munster;  34,977  from  Lein- 
ster;  and  only  32,119  from  Connaught. 

By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  whole  number  sailed 
for  Canada.  In  1838  emigration  was  at  its  minimum  in 
Ireland;  14,700  were  all  that  left  Ireland  in  that  year. 

The  tide  swelled  afterwards: 

In  1841  the  numbers  was 71,392 

1842 89,686 

1843 37,509 

1844 54,289 

1845 74,969 

1846 305,955 

1847 215,444 

1848 178,159 

1849 : 214,425 

1850 209,054 

1851 : 257,572 

From  the  1st  of  May,  1851,  to  31st  March,  1871,  the 
the  total  emigration  from  Ireland  was  2,604,292. 

These  figures  do  not  include  the  immigrants  from  Ire- 
land to  England  and  Scotland. 

In  1846,  from  the  13th  January  to  1st  November,  278,- 
005  emigrants  arrived  in  Liverpool  from  Ireland.  Never 
before  was  such  an  exodus  known  in  history.  It  was  sud- 
den, startling,  unpremeditated,  and  unorganized.  Books 
could  be  written  on  the  flight  of  this  famine-stricken  peo- 
ple, but  no  human  pen  would  be  equal  to  the  task  of  de- 
picting the  truthful  story  of  that  melancholy  and  soul- 
harrowing  emigration. 

It  is  one  of  the  saddest  episodes  in  modern  history. 

Upwards  of  one  million  of  human  beings  died  in  Ire- 
land from  the  famine  and  its  consequences,  fever  and 
like  diseases  engendered  by  hunger. 

Two  millions  of  Irish  emigrants,  from  1845  to  1860, 
fled  from  the  land  that  gave  them  birth,  but  in  which 
they  no  longer  could  hope  to  eke  out  a  livelihood.  The 


MORTALITY   ON   SHIPBOARD.  195 

cruel  laws  and  the  vengeful  policies  of  England  drove 
these  millions  into  exile. 

The  census  of  1841  shows  the  population  of  Ireland  to 
have  been  8,175,124. 

According  to  the  usual  ratio  of  increase,  in  1851  the 
population  should  be  9,018,799,  instead  of  which  it  fell  to 
6,552,385 — a  reduction  of  nearly  two  and  a  half  millions! 

These  were  swept  away  by  the  famine  and  emigration. 

The  emigration  during  the  ten  years  from  1841  to  1851 
was  1,436,862 — subtract  this  from  the  amount  of  the  de- 
crease shown  above  and  the  remainder  will  be  1,039,552, 
which  number  must  have  died  of  starvation. 

Nor  was  this  all.  The  mortality  consequent  on  the 
famine  emigration  must  be  added,  and  the  startling 
figure  of  17-j  per  cent,  is  given  as  the  death-rate  on  the 
vessels  carrying  the  famine  sufferers. 

89,738  emigrants  embarked  for  Canada  in  1847.  One 
in  every  three  of  those  who  arrived  were  received  into 
hospitals,  and  the  deaths  on  the  passage  or  soon  after  ar- 
riving were  15,330,  or  over  17  per  cent.  Assuming  that 
the  death-rate  was  at  least  as  great  amongst  the  em- 
igrants who  went  to  the  United  States  during  the  six 
famine  years,  1846  to  1852,  and  the  total  deaths  from  this 
consequence  of  the  famine  would  be  200,668.  Thus  we 
have  one  million  two  hundred  and  forty  thousand  deaths 
resulting  from  the  Irish  famine  and  other  pestilence 
which  followed  in  its  track. 

The  mortality  on  board  the  emigrant  ships  was  indeed 
terrible,  and,  whatever  the  causes  the  deaths  in  British 
ships  enormously  exceeded  those  in  the  ships  of  any  other 
country.  The  "  Erin  Queen"  sailed  with  493  passengers 
of  whom  136  died  on  the  voyage. 

The  "  Avon,"  with  552  passengers,  had  246  deaths,  and 
the  "  Virginius,"  with  476  emigrants,  had  267  deaths. 

These  facts  and  figures  are  shown  in  the  Report  of  the 
Commissioner  of  Emigration,  N.  Y.,  and  by  Dr.  Strat- 
ten  in  the  Edinburgh  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal. 

It  would  be  instructive  to  trace  out  arfd  indicate  in  a 
general  way  the  career  and  fortunes  of  this  vast  swarm  of 
exiles,  who  thronged  to  the  friendly  soil  of  the  United 


196         MISTAKES   OF   THE   EMIGRANT   ON   LANDING. 

States  and  the  Canadas.  Sufficient  time  has  now  elapsed 
since  the  memorable  "  exodus  "  to  enable  the  reader  to 
draw  some  general  conclusions  from  the  facts  which  are 
of  general  notoriety. 

First,  then,  the  fatal  and  irremediable  mistake  of  the 
Irish  emigrant,  after  landing  was  in  settling  down  in 
the  seaboard  cities,  or  in  the  principal  inland  towns,  and 
occupying  as  his  lot  the  task  of  a  day  laborer. 

At  home  the  Irish  people,  it  may  be  said,  are  farmers 
or  tillers  of  the  soil.  Few  of  them  in  those  years  were 
bred  to  mechanical  employments  and  fewer  still  had 
opportunity  for  commercial  pursuits.  They  were  natur- 
ally and  by  training  adapted  to  farm  life.  Yet  the  strange 
anomaly  appears  that  with  a  continent  inviting  their 
patient  toil  to  wrest  farms  out  of  the  primeval  forests, 
and  the  more  tempting  prairies,  they  allowed  the  glorious 
opportunity  to  slip  from  them  and  were  content  to  accept 
the  miserable  and  precarious  alternative  of  city  life.  One 
cannot  but  be  impatient  when  we  reflect  on  the  folly  of 
this  choice.  The  tide  of  Irish  emigration  from  184G  to 
1854,  to  the  United  States,  had  it  been  directed  aright, 
would  have  peopled  and  possessed  the  states  west  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  not  a  few  of  the  states  east  of  the 
"  Father  of  Waters,"  Illinois,  Indiana,  Michigan,  Wis- 
consin, etc. 

Prosperity,  independence  and  power  would  have  been 
the  consequence. 

It  is  no  merely  optimistic  view  to  assert  that  with  this 
result  attained,  the  vexed  and  ever  recurring  "  Irish 
problem  "  would  have  been  solved  ere  this.  But,  partly 
from  the  force  of  circumstances,  and  in  part  because  of 
foolish  and  stupid  advice  too  trustfully  and  credulously 
accepted,  and  too  unwisely  followed,  the  Irish  emigrant 
was  in  most  cases  content  to  follow  the  rudest  and  most 
laborious  employments  in  the  great  cities,  instead  of 
pushing  out  to  the  West  and  taking  a  farm. 

This  blunder  was  early  foreseen  and  pointed  out  by 
many  Irishmen — notably  by  Thomas  D'Arcy  McGee, 
who  persisted,  in  the  face  of  high  and  powerful  opposi- 
tion, in  his  efforts  from  1848  to  1856,  to  induce  the  Irish 


THE  DUBLIN  NATION  GIVES  IRELAND  NEW  IMPETUS.    197 

emigrants  to  settle  upon  the  lands  in  the  west,  which 
were  then  still  open  to  occupation  under  pre-emption 
laws. 

He  pointed  out  the  perils  and  inevitable  degradation 
of  city  life,  and  warned  his  countrymen  to  not  let  pass 
the  opportunity  which  then  presented  itself  to  "  occupy 
and  possess  the  land." 

AVith  prophetic  pen  he  warned  them  that,  "  whatever 
we  can  do  for  ourselves  as  a  people,  in  North  America, 
must  be  done  before  the  close  of  this  century,  or  the  epi- 
taph of  our  race  will  be  written  in  the  west  with  the 
single  sentence  "  Too  Late  !" 

THE  DUBLIN  NATION  NEWSPAPER. 

The  era  of  "  Young  Ireland "  may  be  said  to  have 
begun  with  the  founding  of  the  Nation  newspaper  in 
Dublin,  by  Duffy,  Dillon  and  Davis,  in  1842,  and  to  have 
ended  with  the  arrest  of  Smith  O'Brien  and  his  associates 
in  August,  1848. 

The  works  of  that  brilliant  band  of  patriots,  as  orators, 
writers  and  poets,  brought  a  new  soul  into  Ireland — 
placed  the  tombstone  on  the  grave  of  "  Whiggery  "  as  a 
potent  element  in  Irish  politics  ;  aroused,  in  spite  of  rev- 
olutionary failure,  the  spirit  of  the  country  from  provin- 
cial vassalage,  and  prepared  the  way  for  fche  men  and  the 
times  that  will  yet  see  justice  done  to  the  memory  of  the 
heroic  young  martyr  of  1803. 

The  heaviest  blow  that  fell  upon  the  Irish  National 
Cause  during  the  earlier  part  of  the  "  Young  Ireland" 
era  was  the  death  by  fever,  in  September,  1845,  of  Thomas 
Davis,  in  the  thirty-first  year  of  his  age.  This  brilliant 
gentleman  was  of  Welsh  descent  and  was  born  in  Mallow, 
Cork  County,  in  1814.  He  received  a  thorough  educa- 
tion, but  did  not  develop  any  particular  talent  until  about 
the  middle  of  1843,  when  suddenly  he  burst  into  song 
such  as  Ireland's  heart  had  not  been  stirred  by  since  the 
harp  of  Drennan  was  broken  in  1798. 

Nor  was  the  genius  of  Davis  confined  to  song  alone. 
In  prose,  as  in  poesy,  he  was  equally  happy,  lucid  and 
fascinating.  Around  him  clustered  that  band  of  splendid 


198  DEATH    OF   THOMAS   DAVIS. 

enthusiasts  who  made  the  columns  of  the  Dublin  Nation 
the  most  classic  in  Europe,  and  whose  truth  and  devotion, 
for  the  most  part,  have  made  their  names  household 
words  to  the  Irish  people  of  their  own  and  this  genera- 
tion. 

When  Davis  died,  O'ConnelPs  influence  in  British  and 
Irish  politics  was  already  on  the  wane.  The  old  giant  of 
agitations  was  sinking  wearily  to  his  long  repose,  and 
the  famine-cloud,  laden  with  pestilence  and  deatti,  had 
begun  to  form  in  the  horizon  of  Connaught  and  south- 
western Munster.  O'Connell  saw  the  disaster  approach- 
ing, but  could  devise  no  means  of  averting  it.  He  lived 
to  see  the  "civilized"  government  of  Lord  John  Russell 
take  advantage  of  the  famine  to  reduce  the  Irish  popu- 
lation, by  starvation  and  exodus,  from  eight  and  a  half 
to  little  more  than  seven  millions  ;  and  then,  spent  with 
age  and  grief  and  toil,  the  old  Tribune  sought  the  shores 
of  Italy,  hoping  to  reach  the  Vatican,  but  died  in  Genoa 
in  May,  1847.  His  death  occasioned  a  blank  that  many 
years  have  not  seen  filled.  Possessed  of  great  gifts — the 
most  powerful  popular  orator  of  any  age — he  was  alas! 
defective  in  political  sagacity. 

The  turning  point  of  his  career  was  his  backdown  be- 
fore the  proclamation  of  Lord  De  Grey,  in  1843,  when  the 
Clontarf  monster  meeting  was  forbidden.  His  vacilla- 
tion on  that  occasion  sealed,  for  that  time,  the  fate  of  the 
Irish  people;  broke  his  own  influence  and  handed  him 
and  Ireland  over  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  British 
government.  No  amount  of  slaughter  that  might  have 
followed  defiance  of  the  government  at  Clontarf  could 
have  equaled  the  horrible  mortality  that  subsequently 
came  upon  the  Irish  nation  through  the  agency  of  a 
famine  which  England  coolly  allowed  to  settle  the  ques- 
tion of  her  supremacy  in  Ireland. 

After  the  death  of  Davis,  his  place  in  the  Nation,  so 
far  as  the  editorial  business  went,  was  supplied  by  John 
Mitchel,  a  young  Unitarian  from  Derry,  who,  although 
not  a  Celt  by  blood,  seemed  to  have  concentrated  in  his 
nature  all  the  hatred  ever  borne  to  England  by  "  Shane 
the  Proud,"  of  Tyrowen,  or  "  Red  Hugh,"  of  Tyrconnel. 


THE    IRISH    CONFEDERATION    OF    '43.  199 

The  tone  of  his  writings  went  home  to  Ireland's  heart 
and  before  many  months  he  had  the  Nation  involved  in 
a  state  prosecution  because  of  a  most  ingenious  and  cov- 
ertly warlike  article  on  the  use  of  railways  as  a  military 
factor,  written  in  reply  to  some  boastings  of  the  English 
press. 

SECESSION    FROM  THE    REPEAL    ASSOCIATION. 

In  July,  1846,  occurred  the  secession  of  "  Young " 
from  "Old"  Ireland  in  Conciliation  hall.  O'Connell, 
who  appeared  to  have  a  childish  abhorrence  of  revolution, 
caused  a  series  of  resolutions  "  abhorring  and  stigmatiz- 
ing" violent  means,  in  all  lands  and  at  all  times,  to  be 
introduced  before  a  general  meeting  of  repealers.  His 
son,  John,  who  was  in  no  way  worthy  of  his  sire,  brought 
matters  to  a  crisis,  and  after  a  debate  in  which  Thomas 
Francis  Meagher,  then  a  mere  youth,  won  immortality  as 
an  'orator,  Smith  O'Brien,  Mitchel,  Duffy,  Dillon,  Mea- 
gher and  others,  quitted  Conciliation  hall  never  again  to 
enter  it. 

THE  IRISH  CONFEDERATION  OF  '48. 

From  that  hour  "  Old  Ireland "  ceased  to  be  a  vital 
consideration  in  Irish  affairs,  and  the  rival  party,  forming 
the  "  Irish  Confederation  "  rallied  around  it  every  ele- 
ment in  the  Island  that  looked  beyond  agitation  as  a 
means  of  national  deliverance.  One  of  "  Young  Ire- 
land's" poets  announced  the  programme  in  these  words: 

There's  not  a  man  in  all  the  land 

Our  country  now  can  spare — 
The  strong  man  with  his  sinewy  hand 

The  weak  man  with  his  prayer; 
No  whining  tone  of  mere  regret, 

Young  Irish  bards,  tor  you ; 
But  let  your  songs  teach  Ireland  yet 

What  Irishmen  should  do. 

The  career  of  the  Irish  confederation  was  brief  and  bril- 
liant. If  eloquence  such  as  has  not  thrilled  the  island 
since  the  days  of  Grattan  could  have  conquered  the  Eng- 
lish legions,  the  orations  of  young  Meagher  would  have 
vanquished  them.  In  this  line  of  warfare,  that  radiant 


200  JOHN   MITCHELL    GROWS   IMPATIENT. 

orator  was  ably  seconded  by  Richard  O'Gorman,  Jr., 
Michael  Doheny,Thomas  D'Arcy  McGee,  and  Father  John 
Kenyori,  parish  priest  of  Templederry  in  Tipperary. 
McGee's  subsequent  career  did  not,  unhappily,  vouch  for 
the  sincerity  of  his  youth,  but  all  others  mentioned  either 
"died  in  the  harness"  or  else  live  to  ponder  over  the 
vicissitudes  of  a  patriot  life. 

Mitchel,  Gavan  Duffy  and  John  B.  Dillon  were  the 
chief  prose  writers  of  that  epoch,  while  John  O'Hagan 
("  Sievegullion"),  Michael  Joseph  Barry,  J.  De  Jean  Fra- 
zer,  Denis  Florence  McCarthy,  and  occasionally,  Duffy, 
fired  the  popular  heart  with  bardic  strains. 

Meanwhile,  the  famine  grew  daily  more  deadly,  and 
John  Mitchel — ever  impatient  and  honest — grew  tired  of 
agitation.  He  differed  essentially  from  Smith  O'Brien 
and  Gavan  Duffy  in  this  :  He  declared  openly  that  in- 
stead of  saying  to  the  people  "  Agitate  !  Agitate  !"  he 
would  say  "  Arm  !  Arm  !" 

This  produced  still  another  secession.  Mitchel  re- 
signed his  position  on  the  Nation,  and  ceased  to  be  a 
member  of  the  confederation  for  whose  existence  he  no 
longer  saw  any  use.  He  was  followed  by  three  spirits  of 
his  own  kind — John  Kenyon,  Thomas  Devin  Reilly,  and 
John  Martin.  By  their  exertions  the  United  Irishman 
Avas  established  in  Dublin,  and  never  before  or  since  did 
the  English  government  have  such  plain  truth  hurled  at  it 
on  Irish  soil.  Mitchel  utterly  denied  the  right  of  England 
to  rule  Ireland  at  all — abused  the  Lord  Lieutenant  in  un- 
qualified terms,  advocated  separation  and  recommended 
pikes  and  vitriol  as  means  of  emancipation  from  the 
foreign  yoke.  Clubs  were  formed  in  nearly  all  the  prin- 
cipal towns,  and  drilling  was  secretly  practised  in  most  of 
them.  This  was  in  the  spring  of  1848,  at  a  time  when 
the  peasantry  of  Ireland  had  been  more  than  decimated 
by  the  famine,  and  when  those  that  survived  had  their 
native  valor  crushed  out  of  them  by  misfortunes  which 
have  no  parallel. 

Soon,  the  force  of  circumstances — notably  the  French 
revolution  which  dethroned  Louis  Philippe — hurried 
O'Brien,  Meagher,  and  the  rest  of  the  confederates  into 


MITCHEL    CONVICTED    OF   TKEASON-FELONY.  201 

the  same  line  with  Mitchel.  The  latter  was  for  imme- 
diate action,  while  his  friends  thought  it  better  to  wait 
until  the  harvest  was  gathered  before  appealing  to  arms. 
The  government  did  not  intend  to  be  caught  napping, 
and  so,  in  March,  1848,  O'Brien,  Meagher,  and  Mitchel 
were  arrested  and  tried  for  sedition.  The  two  former 
were  acquitted,  but  Mitchel  whose  "  trial  "  did  not  take 
place  until  May,  was  convicted  under  the  "  Treason-fel- 
ony "  act,  rushed  through  both  houses,  for  the  special 
purpose  of  convicting  him,  within  thirty-six  hours.  Be- 
fore sentence  of  transportation  beyond  the  seas,  for  four- 
teen years,  was  passed  upon  him,  he  delivered  from  the 
dock  a  brief,  but  memorable  speech,  in  which,  among 
other  pregnant  things,  he  declared  that  British  "  law  "  in 
Ireland  was  based  upon  "  packed  juries,  partisan 
judges,  and  perjured  sheriffs. "  He  hoped  the  people 
would  make  an  attempt  to  rescue  him,  and  so  precipitate 
the  revolution.  So  they  would  have  done,  but  were  un- 
wisely, as  it  turned  out,  restrained  by  O'Brien  and  the 
rest,  who  thought  that  "the  time"  had  not  yet  come. 
That  ended  the  hope  of  a  gallant  revolt,  which  might  have 
bloodily  redeemed  the  errors  of  both  old  and  young  Ire- 
land, even  though  the  people,  like  the  Hungarians  a  year- 
later,  had  been  trampled  down,  for  that  time,  by  foreign 
hoofs  and  slaughtered  by  foreign  bayonets.  Mitchel  was 
sent  beyond  the  ocean,  and  with  him  fled  the  military 
spirit  of  "  the  most  unfortunate  of  nations." 

SUSPENSION    OF   THE  HABEAS  CORPUS  ACT. 

In  July  the  habeas  corpus  act  having  been  cunningly 
suspended,  O'Brien  and  his  friends,  when  too  late,  took 
the  field.  Only  one  encounter  of  any  note  toi.k  place — 
that  at  Ballingarry  Tipperary,  under  O'Brien,  with  the 
constabulary  as  opponents.  The  latter  retreated  to  a 
strong  farm  house,  situated  on  a  rising  ground,  and  from 
cover  easily  defeated  the  almost  unarmed  people. 
O'Brien,  Terence  Bellew  McManus  and  James  Stephens — 
then  a  mere  lad — showed  cool  courage  during  the  attack, 
but  all  was  in  vain.  Meagher  was  in  another  part  of  the 
country  at  the  time.  Stephens  was  badly  wounded,  but 


202  THE   YOUNG   IRELAND   CHIEFS    BANISHED. 

was  carried  to  the  mountains  by  the  peasantry  and  con- 
cealed until  his  recovery  enabled  him  to  escape  to  France. 

In  August,  O'Brien,  Meagher,  McManus  and  O'Don- 
oghue  were  arrested  in  Tipperary,  and  in  October  of  the 
same  year  were  tried  at  Clonmel,  convicted  of  high  treason, 
and  sentenced  to  be  "hanged,  drawn  and  quartered,"  in 
the  old  barbaric  fashion. 

This  horrible  sentence  would  have,  no  doubt,  been  car- 
ried into  effect,  had  not  Gen.  Charles  Napier  published  a 
letter  which  showed  that  members  of  the  Russell  minis- 
try, including  the  Premier  himself,  had  been  implicated 
in  the  treasonable  attempt  to  seduce  the  army  from  its 
allegiance  and  march  on  London  to  force  reform  in  1832. 

This  document  had  the  desired  effect,  and  Parliament 
modified  the  sentence  ot  the  four  patriots  by  reducing  it 
from  the  death-penalty  to  transportation  for  life  to  the  pe- 
nal settlements  of  Australia. 

BANISHMENT  OF  THE  LEADERS. 

The  banishment  of  the  Young  Ireland  Chiefs  already 
mentioned,  not  to  speak  of  John  Martin  and  Kevin 
Isodore  O'Doherty,  who  shared  the  same  fate,  and  the 
flight  of  all  the  others,  except  Duffy,  left  the  nation  vir- 
tually headless.  After  a  "fitful  fever"  of  fifty  years, 
the  tranquility  of  political  death  succeeded,  and  Lord 
Russell  stood  triumphant  as  the  greatest  conqueror,  by 
dastardly  methods,  of  "  the  Irish  difficulty." 

Of  the  then  brilliant  poetesses  of  the  old  Nation, 
"  Eva,"  who  subsequently  became  the  bride  of  O'Dogh- 
erty,  alone  retained  some  of  the  fire  which  used  to 
inflame  the  island  in  former  years.  "Speranza"  and 
"  Mary  "  were  stricken  dumb  by  the  mortification  of  utter 
and  inglorious  defeat.  The  spring  of  1850  found  "Eva" 
uttering  in  the  Freeman  the  following  rythmical  proph- 
ecy in  reference  to  the  exiles  of  1848: 

Our  true  men !    Our  true  men    ! 

We  proudly  sing  them  all, 
In  captive's  chain  across  ihe  main, 

Despite  of  Britain's  thrall; 
Our  true  men — our  true  men, 

We  do  not  fear  to  tell 


MOVEMENT   FOB   TENANT   EIGHT.  203 

How  deep  within  our  inmost  souls 
They  and  their  treason  dwell! 

Our  true  men !  our  few  men — 

They  only  walked  the  way 
Where  right  of  yore  led  some  before,  • 

And  more  will  pride  to-day. 
Our  true  men !  our  true  men 

Perchance,  like  you,  to  fail, 
But  others  then  will  fill  the  van 

And  still  the  struggle  hail! 

Charles  Gavan  Duffy  and  Frederick  Lucas  attempted, 
in  alliance  with  Sharman  Crawford,  to  get  tenant  right 
for  the  people,  but  after  an  arduous  struggle,  in  and  out 
of  parliament,' the  whole  movement  failed  ignominious- 
ly,  developing  the  basest  treason  in  some  of  the  "  consti- 
tutional "  champions  of  tenant  reform.  The  typical 
traitor  of  that  epoch  was  one  William  Keogh — a  lawyer 
by  profession — a  man  of  superior  talents,  but  entirely 
destitute  of  conscience  or  common  honesty.  He  became 
a  Judge  of  the  Circuit  in  Ireland  and  was  the  most  ex- 
ecrated man  that  Avore  the  ermine  since  the  days  of  Nor- 
burry.  At  length  retribution  overtook  him,  and  after 
nearly  murdering  his  valet,  he  died  in  a  lunatic  asylum  a 
raving  maniac.  Irish  grass  ought  to  refuse  to  grow  above 
the  earth  which  his  dust  contaminates. 

John  Sadlier,  "the  suicide  banker,"  was  a  crony  of 
Keogh's,  and  a  co-partner  in  his  treason.  His  memory, 
as  the  robber  of  widows  and  orphans  who  trusted  him 
with  their  savings,  smells  to  heaven.  He  met,  by  his  own 
hand,  a  fitting  death.  He  was  as  great  a  rascal,  but  less 
of  a  physical  coward  than  Keogh.  Ireland  and  the  world 
at  large  are  well  rid  of  both. 

Gavan  Duffy,  who,  with  all  his  fine  qualities,  had  al- 
ways a  touch  of  weakness  in  his  composition,  left  Ireland 
in  1853,  saying  that  her  cause  was  "  dead  as  a  corpse  on 
the  dissecting  table."  He  made  his  home  in  Australia, 
interested  himself  in  colonial  affairs,  and  became  a  Min- 
ister of  State.  He  was  subsequently  knighted,  but  the 
"Sir"  prefixed  to  his  name  by  the  act  of  the  Crown  of 
England,  obliterated  his  services  from  the  record  of  the 


204:          STEPHENS    ORGANIZES   A   SECRET   SOCIETY. 

Irish  people.  They  never  forgive  a  man  who,  once  a 
patriot,  accepts  honors  of  any  kind  at  the  hands  of  the 
national  enemy. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  PH<ENIX  SOCIETY. 

For  some  years  after  the  desertion  of  Duffy,  Ireland, 
with  the  exception  of  a  sickly  agitation  of  a  semi-religious 
nature,  lay  supine,  and  England  hoped  she  had  heard  the 
last  of  her  ancient  foe.  But  the  policeman's  bullet  at 
Ballingarry,  in  1848,  missed  the  life  of  James  Stephens, 
who  returned  secretly  from  France,  where  he  had  learned 
from  Poles,  Italians  and  Hungarians,  the  art  of  conspiracy, 
and  proceeded  to  organize  the  Phcenix  Society,  with  the 
object  of  total  separation  from  England,  in  the  north  of 
Ireland.  In  some  unfortunate  way  the  secret  was  re- 
vealed to  the  government,  and  a  couple  of  miserable  in- 
formers in  Cork  and  Kerry  "  sold  the  pass  "  on  their  asso- 
ciates. O'Donovan  Rossa — a  man  of  much  energy  and 
doggedness,  but  of  little  polish  or  tact — was  the  chief 
victim.  O'Sullivan,  Agreem,  in  Kerry,  was  convicted  and 
sentenced  to  a  term  of  transportation,  which  was  after- 
wards commuted  to  an  agreed  withdrawal  from  British 
territory.  O'Donovan  Kossa  and  others  were  allowed  to 
plead  guilty,  by  advice  of  counsel,  and  retire  to  America, 
where,  it  is  almost  needless  to  say,  they  continued  the 
conspiracy  in  another  form. 

The  Phoenix  fiasco  did  not  deter  Stephens  from  pro- 
ceeding. He  was  a  man  of  dauntless  determination  and 
of  unbounded  resources.  The  chief  defect  of  his  char- 
acter was  an  egotistical  tendency  toward  absolutism — a 
characteristic  that  worked  well  enough  with  the  ignorant, 
but  which  did  not  serve  him  with  the  more  enlightened. 
Slavish  obedience  invariably  won  his  favor,  and  the  final 
regret  was  that  he  took  into  his  confidence  many  design- 
ing knaves  who,  in  after  times,  did  not  scruple  to  sell  him 
and  the  cause  to  the  authorities  of  Dublin  castle. 

THE    IRISH    PEOPLE    NEWSPAPER THE    FENIANS. 

In  1863,  with  the  establishment  of  the  Irish  People, 
revolution  found  an  organ  once  more  on  the  soil  of  Ire- 


THE   AMERICAN    ORGANIZATION.  205 

land.  The  publication  was  inspired  by  Stephens,  and 
had  for  contributors  such  men  as  Thomas  Clarke  Luby, 
O'Donovan  Rossa,  Charles  J.  Kickham  and  John  O'Leary. 
Under  the  name  of  the  Irish  Revolutionary  Brotherhood, 
the  secret  organization  continued  to  develop,  fed  by  con- 
tributions from  the  American  branch,  of  which  John 
O'Mahony,  another  of  the  men  of  1848,  was  president  or 
head-centre — until,  in  September,  1865,  the  office  of  the 
Irish  People  was  seized  in  Dublin,  and  all  the  prominent 
leaders,  except  Stephens  himself,  captured.  He  eluded 
the  vigilance  of  the  detectives  for  about  a  month,  when  he 
too  was  captured  in  his  own  house  outside  the  city,  and 
locked  up  in  Richmond  Bridewell.  On  the  25th  of  No- 
vember, 1865,  he  electrified  the  three  kingdoms  by  mak- 
ing his  escape  from  the  prison,  assisted  by  J.  J.  Breslin, 
the  hospital  warden,  and  by  Daniel  Byrne,  the  night- 
watchman  and  turnkey,  both  of  whom,  as  well  as  Steph- 
ens, are  now  in  New  York.  He  remained  concealed  at 
lodgings  in  Dublin  for  several  months,  and  after  a  series 
of  astonishing  adventures,  reached  France,  whence  he  sub- 
sequently came  to  the  United  States. 

In  the  meantime  the  American  organization  had 
become  formidable,  chiefly  owing  to  the  close  of  the 
civil  war  which  released  from  service  tens  of  thousands 
of  Irish  officers  and  soldiers  eager  to  fight  for  Ireland. 

All  went  well  until  after  the  Philadelphia  convention 
of  November,  1865,  when  O'Mahony  and  the  "  Senate  " 
had  a  dispute  in  respect  to  policy,  and  this  dispute  led  to 
a  secession,  the  results  of  which  proved  disastrous  to 
both  parties.  O'Mahoney  was  a  thoroughly  honest  man, 
but  lived  in  the  past  a  good  deal,  and  his  slow  methods 
did  not  suit  the  hotter  blood  of  the  secessionists,  led  by 
such  men  as  Michael  Scanlan,  William  R.  Roberts,  P.  W. 
Dunne,  E.  L.  Carey  and  James  W.  Fitzgerald.  The 
latter  were  honest  in  their  convictions,  too,  but  there  was 
no  chance  of  an  agreement  between  them.  The  "  Sen- 
ate," led  by  William  R.  Roberts  and  Gen.  Thomas 
Sweeney — a  distinguished  Irish- American  officer — pro- 
posed an  invasion  of  Canada.  This  plan  was  bitterly 
opposed  by  O'Mahoney  and  his  followers,  and  the  hitherto 


206  FENIAN    RAID   INTO    CANADA. 

powerful  Brotherhood  split  hopelessly  into  two  factions. 
Both  hated  England  furiously,  and,  let  it  be  uttered  with 
sadness,  both  were  for  a  time  laden  with  animosity 
toward  each  other. 

Stephens  came  over  in  1866,  but  owing  to  his  consti- 
tutional despotism,  failed  to  fill  the  breach.  Sweeney 
made  his  attempt  on  Canada,  well  planned  but  badly 
managed,  in  May,  1866,  and  failed.  A  brilliant  engage- 
ment took  place  on  June  2  at  a  place  called  Limestone 
Ridge,  in  Upper  Canada — a  few  miles  from  Buffalo — be- 
tween Col.  John  O'Neill,  with  500  men,  and  the  Cana- 
dian Volunteers,  1,400  strong,  under  Col.  Booker.  The 
latter  were  defeated  with  a  loss  of  three  officers  and  93 
men  killed  and  wounded.  O'Neill  lost  one  officer  and  9 
men  killed,  and  two  officers  and  23  men  wounded.  As 
he  was  threatened  by  a  superior  force  of  regular  troops, 
and  remained  unsupported,  he  effected  his  retreat  to  the 
Niagara  river,  and  in  attempting  to  re-cross  that  stream, 
was  arrested,  with  all  his  men,  by  the  United  States  au- 
thorities, before  whom  he  had  a  nominal  trial,  which 
eventually  resulted  in  the  entrance  of  a  nolle  prosequi. 

Gen.  Meade,  acting  for  the  United  States,  sent  to  their 
homes  nearly  30,000  Fenian  troops,  who,  but  for  the  bad 
management  of  the  generals  and  the  unfriendly  attitude 
of  Andrew  Johnson's  government,  might  have  made  hot 
work  for  the  Canadians,  as  most  of  them  were  veterans 
of  the  Federal  and  Confederate  armies. 

The  rest  of  the  record  of  1866  is  disheartening  in  the 
extreme.  Chaos  reigned  in  Fenian  councils,  and  the  old 
curse  of  disunion  appeared  to  be  more  powerful  than 
ever. 

O'Donovan  Rossa,  O'Leary,  Kickhanvand  dozens  of 
others  were  tried  and  convicted  in  Ireland,  and  were  sen- 
tenced to  terms  of  imprisonment  with  hard  labor,  varying 
from  life  down  to  six  years.  The  hardships  and  indigni- 
ties heaped  upon  the  unfortunate  men  in  English  prisons 
have  since  become  a  theme  of  horror  for  the  people  of 
two  continents. 

What  followed  is  fresh  in  the  public  mind — the  abortive 
"rising"  of  1867;  the  arrest  of  Gen.  Bourke  and  his 


THE   MANCHESTER   MAKTYES.  207 

compatriots  ;  the  treason  of  Gen.  Massey  and  Corrydon  ; 
the  rescue  of  Col.  Kelley  and  Capt.  Deasy  from  the  prison 
van  at  Manchester,  and  the  savage  rage  of  England, 
which  did  not  rest  satisfied  until  Allen,  Larkin  and  O'Brien 
forfeited  their  lives  on  the  gallows,  November  23,  1867, 
for  the  accidental  shooting  of  Sargeant  Brett  during  the 
fracas;  the  explosion  of  Clerkenwell,  resulting  in  the  hang- 
ing of  Michael  Barrett  ;  the  total  collapse  of  the  move- 
ment in  Ireland  ;  O'Neill's  ill-advised  second  attempt  in 
Canada  in  1870,  and  its  unfortunate  result  ;  the  disestab- 
lishment of  the  Irish  church  by  Gladstone,  and  the  nomi- 
nal revision  of  old  land  laws. 

THE    OLD    CAUSE    UNDER   ANOTHER   FORM. 

Now  again,  after  years  of  disappointment,  during 
which  the  release  of  the  Fenian  prisoners  from  Queens- 
land by  a  supposed  secret  agency  was  the  only  brilliant 
exploit;  the  Irish  cause,  under  the  leadership  of  Charles 
Stuart  Parnell,  presents  itself  in  another  form.  It  is 
the  legitimate  heir  of  an  immortal  struggle,  and  is  led  by 
a  man  who  is  not  likely  to  go  out  of  any  movement  he 
undertakes  unless  "  feet  foremost." 

Mr.  Parnell  can  look  back  700  years  and  see  all  the 
way  behind  him  nothing  but  executioners'  head-blocks, 
hangmen's  cross-trees,  and  convict  vessels.  He  can  look 
forward  and,  perhaps,  see  the  rift  in  the  clouds  that  in- 
dicates the  coming,  after  all  her  toil  and  defeat  and 
misery,  of  a  brighter  and  nobler  period  in  the  history  of 
his  country. 

ENGLISH  INDIFFERENCE   TO  IRISH  WANT. 

The  most  striking  evidence  of  the  antagonistic  feeling 
between  the  English  and  the  Irish  people,  is  the  seeming 
heartlessness  of  the  English  press  concerning  the  legal 
proceedings  now  going  on  in  Ireland  against  the  tenants 
in  arrears  for  rent.  We  need  not  repeat  the  story  of  the 
horrible  land-system  in  Ireland.  The  owners  are  mainly 
non-residents,  and  representatives  of  Saxon  families  who 
obtained  the  land  by  confiscation,  and  who  spend  their 
time  and  money  in  England  or  on  the  Continent.  The 


208  ENGLISH   INDIFFERENCE   TO    IRISH   WANT. 

land  is,  in  many  cases,  if  not  generally,  covered  with  set- 
tlements of  fixed  sums,  to  be  paid  annually  out  of  the 
rents.  The  owner  inherits  the  estate  charged  with  these 
settlements  in  favor  of  various  persons, — brothers,  sisters, 
cousins,  uncles,  and  aunts.  The  residue  of  the  rent,  after 
paying  these  liens,  is  the  share  of  the  proprietor,  who,  in 
turn,  at  his  death,  charges  the  land  with  provisions  for 
the  support  of  those  dependent  on  him.  Land  is  often, 
in  this  way,  subjected  to  charges  for  the  support  of  two 
generations  of  persons  receiving  annuities  out  of  the 
rents.  To  meet  these,  and  to  live  in  the  style  of  a  na- 
bob, there  is  a  necessity  for  keeping  the  income  from  the 
rents  at  the  utmost  sum.  The  expenditure  of  the  owner 
is  limited  to  his  income  from  the  land  ;  and,  as  there  is 
not  enough  land  to  supply  all  those  leeches,  the  landlords 
resort  to  the  practice  of  renting  by  competition.  This  is 
what  is  known  as  41  rack-renting.  "  A  tenant  farmer  who 
pays  $10  an  acre  rent,  and  who  by  hard  labor  and  econo- 
my is  just  able  to  make  that  rent  and  support  his  family, 
is  met  at  the  next  leasing  by  a  notice  that  the  farm  will  be 
rented  to  the  highest  bidder.  If  the  landlord  receive 
offers  of  $15,  $20,  or  even  $25  an  acre  rent,  the  tenant  in 
possession  must,  though  he  knows  the  land  in  the  best  of 
seasons  will  not  pay  this  sum,  advance  on  these  prices  or 
move  out,  and  probably  be  unable  to  get  another  farm 
even  on  as  good  terms.  This  system  of  rack-renting,  or 
renting  by  competition,  practiced  year  after  year,  has 
forced  the  rates  of  rent  to  such  a  point  that  the  laborious 
struggle  of  the  tenant  is  to  pay  the  rent  and  get  potatoes 
and  buttermilk  enough  to  keep  his  family  from  starving. 
If  there  be  even  a  partial  failure  of  the  crop,  or  if  there 
be  a  partial  blight  of  the  potatoes,  then  there  is  either 
an  inability  to  pay  the  whole  rent  or  a  chance  of  the 
family  famishing,  and  perhaps  both. 

The  crops  of  Ireland  (and  also  of  England)  partially 
failed  in  1878.  In  1879  the  failure  was  even  greater, 
and  American  competition  in  meats  and  breadstuffs 
deprived  the  producers  of  much  of  the  value  of  what 
little  they  had  to  sell.  The  loss  was  general,  extending 
to  every  county  in  Ireland  and  to  every  locality,  reducing 


TENANTS    COULD   NOT    CONTROL   TIIE   ELEMENTS.      209 

the  whole  tenant-farming  population,  north  and  south, 
Catholic  and  Protestant,  to  a  common  plane  of  misfor- 
tune. To  the  extent  of  their  crop,  to  the  value  of  every 
bushel  of  grain  and  roots,  to  the  money  received  for 
every  pig  and  beef,  and  cow,  for  every  pound  of  butter, 
and  for  everything  that  labor  could  produce, — all  was 
given  over  to  the  landlord  to  pay  the  rent.  All  that  was 
reserved  was  such  scant  quantity  of  potatoes  as  might 
furnish  the  family  with  food  until  more  could  be  raised. 

The  failure  to  pay  the  rent  in  whole  or  only  in  part 
was,  of  course,  a  reduction  of  the  income  of  the  land- 
lords. They  suffered  the  loss  of  10,  25,  or  40  per  cent, 
of  their  income,  and  as  their  habit  of  living  required 
every  penny  of  income,  the  default  of  rent  has  subjected 
them  to  inconvenience.  They  had  the  "  legal "  claim  to 
their  full  rent.  The  tenants  legally  owed  them  the  whole 
sum  called  for  by  the  contract.  They  had  the  legal 
power  to  enforce  all  the  hard  obligations  of  that  contract. 
In  short,  the  law  and  the  cruel  custom  of  Ireland  were 
on  their  side. 

But  while  there  is  no  more  legal  defense  for  the  non- 
payment of  full  rent  this  year,  there  is  much  to  be  said 
in  extenuation  of  the  default.  The  tenants  could  not 
control  the  elements.  They  could  not  restrain  the  tor- 
rents of  rain  that  during  the  summer  of  1879  deluged 
Ireland;  they  could  not  restrain  the  floods  that  swept  the 
growing  grain  and  spoiled  the  hay  i/i  the  field,  and  even 
washed  the  root-crop  from  the  earth;  they  could  not 
drive  off  the  watery  clouds  that  for  weeks  and  months 
obscured  the  sun,  poured  down  torrents,  and  kept  from 
the  earth  the  heat  and  light  that  were  needed  to  warm 
vegetation  into  healthy  life  and  vigor;  they  could  not 
prevent  the  fall  in  the  market  prices  of  what  they  had 
left  for  sale.  The  wreck  and  ruin  of  their  year's  labor 
was  through  no  fault  or  crime  of  theirs.  It  was  one  of 
those  calamitous  visitations  that  entitled  the  victims  to 
the  sympathy  and  the  forbearance  of  mankind.  They 
failed  to  pay  the  rent  because  Nature  refused  to  reward 
their  labor  with  her  accustomed  productions,  and  for  this 
14 


210  TENANTS   EVICTED    BY    MILITARY    FOKCE. 

calamity  the  landlords  are.  flinging  them  out  of  doors 
upon  the  roads. 

The  papers  of  Ireland,  as  well  as  the  London  pa  pers 
are  daily  filled  with  descriptions  of  the  work  now  going 
on  in  that  unhappy  country  of  evicting  those  tenants  who 
are  unable  to  pay  their  rent  to  the  last  shilling.  The 
landlord  sues  out  a  legal  process,  which  is  placed  in  the 
hands  of  bailiffs.  This  process  is  the  service  of  a  notice 
to  vacate  the  premises  within  a  certain  number  of  days. 
A  detachment  of  armed  constabulary — a  military  police 
— accompany  the  process-servers.  This  is  the  first  step. 
The  second  is,  to  take  a  military  force  and  evict  or  expel 
the  tenants  and  their  families  from  the  premises  at  the 
point  of  the  bayonet.  Everything  upon  the  land  has 
already  been  sold  off  to  pay  the  rent.  Now  comes  the 
expulsion  of  the  unfortunate  victims.  The  practice  is,  to 
take  a  whole  estate  at  a  time.  All  the  defaulting  ten- 
ants are  notified  at  once,  and  are  subsequently  forcibly 
evicted  as  rapidly  as  the  soldiery  can  do  it.  As  soon,  as 
the  family  is  thrust  upon  the  roadside  the  cabin  is  leveled 
to  the  earth.  The  evicted,  numbering  hundreds  of  ten- 
ant-farmers and  their  families  in  each  district,  have  no 
place  to  go  to.  They  cannot  rent  or  obtain  other  land. 
They  cannot  accept  the  shelter  of  other  and  more  fortu- 
nate tenants,  because  the  sheltering  or  harboring  of 
evicted  tenants  is  visited  by  a  forfeiture  of  the  leases  of 
the  charitably  disposed.  An  evicted  tenant  becomes 
by  Irish  landlordism  an  outcast.  Humanity  is  ignored  ; 
the  men,  women  and.  children  may  die  on  the  road- 
side, but  they  are  not  permitted  to  find  shelter  among 
other  tenants  on  the  estate.  Homeless,  houseless,  in 
rags,  their  last  cent  and  their  last  piece  of  property  con- 
fiscated to  pay  rent,  without  food,  they  are  put  on  the 
road  to  perish  there,  or  to  wander  to  the  nearest  alms- 
house,  and  there  find  the  treatment  provided  for  public 
paupers.  All  past  experience  has  shown  a  heavy  mor- 
tality among  these  evicted  people. 

This  cruel,  merciless  work  of  eviction  is  now  going  on 
in  various  parts  of  Ireland.  Each  day  adds  its  hundreds 
to  the  number  of  starving,  homeless  wretches  who  have 


HEARTLESS   TONE   OF   THE   LONDON   PHESS.  211 

been  unable  to  pay  the  rack-rents  because  of  the  general 
failure  of  the  crop  and  fall  in  prices  during  two  successive 
seasons.  The  land  is  covered  with  the  rapidly-gathering 
pall  of  famine,  and  the  military  are  enforcing  with  the 
bayonet  the  relentless  demand  for  rent  from  the  starving 
people. 

What  cannot  fail  to  strike  the  world  with  astonishment 
is  the  heartless  and  indifferent  tone  of  the  London  press. 
They  publish  from  day  to  day  the  details  of  these  heart-rend- 
ing evictions,  and  express  not  a  word  of  sympathy  for  the  ex- 
pelled, ruined  tenants;  not  one  word  of  remonstrance 
against  the  infamous  cruelty  of  the  acts.  They  cry  aloud 
that  the  landlord  is  entitled  to  his  pound  of  flesh.  They 
admit  that  the  failure  to  pay  the  rents  is  due  to  the  failure 
of  the  crops.  They  confess  that  the  tenants  have  not  left 
themselves  food  enough  to  sustain  life,  but,  like  Shylock 
with  his  bond,  they  declare  that  the  defaulting  tenant 
must  pay  the  rent  orgo  upon  the  roadside.  The  military 
of  the  British  Government  is  employed  to  enforce  this  ex- 
pulsion, and  not  a  paper  in  London  has  the  humanity  to 
utter  one  word  of  remonstrance  against  these  cruel,  brutal, 
murderous,  and  wholesale  evictions  of  famine-stricken 
farmers  from  their  little  homes — their  only  shelter.  The 
world  cannot  fail  to  look  with  wonder  upon  the  spectacle 
of  several  hundred  thousand  people  stricken  with  famine, 
-.vithin  twelve  hours'  travel  of  London,  and  the  British 
Government  employing  its  military  force  to  collect  ab- 
sentee landlords'  rack-rent,  expelling  the  people  from 
their  homes,  and  the  English  press  as  silent  as  death  con- 
cerning the  devilish  cruelty.  The  English  people  are  re- 
puted to  be  humane,  generous,  and  liberal.  No  appeal 
in  behalf  of  suffering  humanity  falls  unheeded  on  their 
ears.  Why,  then,  does  the  English  press  address  no  word 
of  appeal  or  remonstrance  to  these  Irish  landlords  to 
stay  this  brutal  work  of  eviction?  Why  this  encourage- 
ment, by  silence,  of  these  eviction  proceedings,  when  per- 
haps a  few  weeks  more  will  witness  how  more  effectually 
famine  will  rid  the  land  of  its  occupants  than  even  the 
Anglo-Irish  armed  constabulary? — Chicago  Tribune,  Jart, 
25,  1880. 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  LEADERS  OF 
THE  LAND  LEAGUE. 


CHAKLES    STUART   PARNELL. 

CONSPICUOUS  among  the  Irish  statesmen  agitating  for 
Land  Reform  is  Mr.  CHAKLES  STUART  PARNELL,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  British  Parliament.  The  family  was  founded 
in  Ireland,  by  the  removal  there  of  an  English  clergy- 
man, who  was  the  father  of  Parnell,  the  poet,  contempo- 
raneous with  Pope.  A  later  descendant  was,  as  is  stated 
in  a  recent  history  of  the  family,  "  the  last  Chancellor 
of  the  Irish  Exchequer."  It  is  said  that  he  received  the 
offer  of  a  Peerage  if  he  would  cast  his  vote  in  favor  of 
the  act  of  "  Union,"  but  refusing  to  do  so,  the  loss  of 
his  high  office  came  simultaneously  with  the  overthrow 
of  Irish  liberty.  In  return  he  received  from  his  fellow- 
countrymen  the  title  of  "  Incorruptible," — a  title  higher 
than  any  within  the  gift  of  Kings.  Another  was  Sir 
Henry,  a  member  of  Lord  Melbourne's  Cabinet  and  an 
earnest  advocate  of  Catholic  emancipation — was  raised  to 
the  Peerage  as  Baron  Congleton.  Lord  Congleton's 
younger  brother  William  Parnell,  the  grandfather  of  the 
"Home  Ruler,"  married,  in  Ireland,  a  daughter  of  the 
Hon.  Hugh  Howard,  cousin  to  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  and 
through  her  Mr.  Parnell  is  descended  from  Lord  Chancel- 
lor Clarendon.  His  cousin,  Lord  Congleton,  the  present 
head  of  the  family,  resides  on  his  Cheshire  estate. 
(212) 


MEMOIK    OF   C.    S.    PARNELL,    M.    P.  213 

Commodore  Charles  Stuart,  a  man  of  Irish  descent,  of 
the  American  Navy,  had  one  daughter,  and  at  Washing- 
ton this  lady  met  John  Henry  Parnell,  who  was  traveling 
in  this  country;  the  two  were  married,  and  at  Avondale, 
Wicklow  County,  the  present  agitator,  Charles  Stuart 
Parnell,  was  born  in  June,  1846. 

Mr.  Parnell's  education  was  begun  at  a  private  school 
conducted  by  a  Protestant  clergyman  at  Southampton, 
England,  whence  at  the  age  of  11  he  was  taken  back  to 
Ireland  and  placed  under  a  private  tutor.  Four  years 
later  he  was  sent  to  a  private  school  in  Somersetshire^ 
England,  to  complete  his  preparation  for  college.  While 
pursuing  his  studies  here  he  was  taken  down  with  typhoid 
lever,  and  lay  for  weeks  almost  at  the  point  of  death. 
Since  then  he  has  never  enjoyed  the  robust  health  of  his 
earlier  years.  He  grew  rapidly,  and  was  a  tall  and 
slender  youth  of  18  at  the  time  of  his  matriculation  at 
Cambridge  University.  Before  entering  the  college 
where  his  father  was  educated,  the  latter  had  expressed  a 
wish  that  Charles  should  study  law,  but  the  proposition 
was  not  received  with  favor.  The  bar  had  110  charm  for 
the  young  man,  who  declared  that  he  would  not  care  to 
be  a  lawyer  unless  he  was  certain  of  being  a  celebrated 
one.  As  a  youth  Mr.  Parnell  showed  no  particular  in- 
terest in  the  affairs  of  Ireland,  and  when  he  discussed 
Irish  politics  with  his  sisters,  frequently  took  the  conserv- 
ative side,  to  annoy  them  in  a  harmless  way.  This  humor 
sometimes  worried  his  mother,  who,  as  she  declares,  has 
an  American  horror  of  toryism. 

His  serious  interest  in  politics  dates  from  the  execution 
of  the  Manchester  rescuers.  Their  terrible  fate,  it  seems, 
determined  him  to  enter  Parliament  as  a  "Home-Ruler." 
After  consulting  with  his  uncle,  Charles  Stuart,  who 
then  lived  in  Paris,  he  informed  his  mother  of  this  inten- 
tion, which  met  with  no  opposition  on  her  part.  Mr. 
Parnell's  first  appearance  before  the  public  was  made  in 
1874,  during  which  year  he  held  the  office  of  High  Sheriff  of 
the  County  Wicklow.  At  the  same  time  he  contested  the 
County  Dublin  on  the  Catholic  and  National  ticket,  but 
was  beaten  by  Col.  Taylor,  the  Conservative  a'nd  Protes- 


214:  MEMOIE  OF  C.   8.   PABNELL,   M.   P. 

tant  candidate.  Mr.  Parnell,  who  had  accepted  the  nom- 
ination in  the  full  expectation  of  defeat,  received  about 
one-half  as  many  votes  as  his  opponent. 

ELECTED   TO    PARLIAMENT. 

The  next  year  he  ran  for  Parliament  in  County  Meath 
against  a  Tory  and  a  "Home-Ruler,"  and  was  returned 
by  a  large  majority  to  succeed  John  Martin,  the  umquhile 
colleague  of  John  Mitchel.  In  April,  1875,  he  took  his 
seat  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  almost  from  the  first 
provoked  the  hostility  of  his  Conservative  fellow  members 
by  speaking  when  he  had  anything  to  say,  instead  of  listen- 
ing patiently  to  older  and  more  experienced  men.  The 
"obstruction  policy,"  which  he  introduced  into  Parliamen- 
tary debates  first  attracted  attention  when  he  opposed  the 
Prison  bill  introduced  by  the  Government,  and  succeeded 
in  carrying  certain  humane  amendments.  As  he  himself 
has  often  remarked,  his  system  of  persistent  criticism  and 
opposition  would  never  have  succeeded  as  it  has,  had  it 
not  been  for  the  obstructive  policy  adopted  toward  him 
by  the  Conservatives. 

Mr.  Parnell's  father  died  a  few  years  ago,  and  his 
mother  soon  after  returned  to  this  country  to  live.  In  1873 
she  was  visited  by  her  son,  who  spent  something  over  six 
months  on  this  side  of  the  water.  While  here  he  visited 
New  York,  Philadelphia,  Newport,  Bordentown,  and 
Alabama.  His  second  and  last  trip  to  America  was  made 
in  1876,  when,  with  John  O'Connor  Power,  M.  P.,  he  pre- 
sented to  Congress  an  address  from  the  Irish  people  which 
President  Grant  refused  to  accept.  This  visit  was  a 
brief  one,  lasting  only  about  two  months. 

Mr.  Parnell  has,  living  four  sisters  and  two  brothers.  Of 
the  latter,  the  eldest,  John  Howard  Parnell,  has  considera- 
ble property  in  the  County  Armagh,  in  the  north  of  Ireland, 
which  has  come  to  him  by  inheritance  ;  and  he  also  owns 
an  extensive  farm  in  the  State  of  Alabama.  The  young- 
est brother,  Henry  Tudor  Parnell,  who  was  educated  for 
the  bar,  has  recently  purchased  property  in  Co.  Kilkenny. 
Charles  himself  has  an  estate  in  Co.  Dublin  and  another 
in  Co.  Kildare.  He  has  recently  reduced  his  rents  20  per 


JOHN   DILLON.  215 

cent.,  while  his  brother's  property  in  Armagh,  which  is 
all  leased  out,  returns  at  present  but  little  interest.  In 
the  year  1874,  Mr.  John  Howard  Parnell  contested  the 
Co.  Wicklow,  and,  though  not  elected  himself,  succeeded 
in  defeating  the  Conservative  candidate,  a  son  of  Lord 
Fitz- William. 

JOHN   DILLON, 

who  accompanies  Mr.  Parnell  in  his  visit  to  America  is 
a  son  of  one  of  the  most  distinguished  members  of  the 
Young  Ireland  party  of  1848.  He  was  possessed  of 
considerable  property  in  the  County  Mayo,  and  it  was  he 
who  contributed  the  funds  with  which  to  establish  the 
Dublin  Nation.  In  1848  he  effected  his  escape,  and 
reaching  New  York,  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law  with 
a  fellow-exile,  Richard  O'Gorman,  who  still  adorns  the 
bar  of  that  city.  On  the  release  of  O'Brien  and  John 
Martin,  John  B.  Dillon  returned  to  his  native  land,  and 
afterwards  became  Member  of  Parliament  for  the  County 
of  Tipperary.  He  died  in  1867.  Such  was  the  father 
of  the  companion  and  friend  of  Mr.  Parnell.  Mr.  Dillon 
is  "quite  a  young  man,  of  fine  presence,  and  of  consider- 
able natural  and  acquired  ability.  He  was  educated  in  the 
Dublin  Catholic  University,  and  took  a  very  prominent 
part  in  the  debates  of  its  historical  society.  During  the 
Fenian  excitement,  while  not  himself  a  member  of  the 
organization,  he  sympathized  strongly  with  its  aims  and 
objects,  and  expressed  himself  so  freely,  that  it  is  said 
he  was  at  one  time  expelled  by  the  college  authoriti- 
es. The  Rev.  Mr.  Woodlock  was  then  rector,  and  he 
cannot  be  accused  of  any  stronger  national  senti- 
ments than  his  brother,  who  holds  the  very  lucrative 
office  of  Recorder  of  the  City  of  Dublin,  as  the  gift 
of  Her  Most  Gracious  Majesty's  Government.  The 
differences  between  the  college  authorities  and  young 
Dillon  were  soon  settled.  Having  completed  his  studies, 
he  afterwards  became  a  member  of  the  Irish  bar,  and 
has,  in  a  short  time,  acquired  considerable  practice.  He 
is  a  close  student,  and  a  very  fluent  and  forcible  speaker. 
Both  he  and  his  brother  William,  a  practicing  physi- 


216  JOSEPH   BIGGAR,    M.  P. 

cian  in  Dublin,  have  taken  a  very  prominent  part  in  the 
Home-Rule  and  Land  agitations,  and  are  of  the  band  of 
young  men  of  good  parts  and  literary  attainments,  whom 
Mr.  Parnell  has  gathered  around  him  in  Ireland.  Mr. 
Dillon  might  be  called  the  member-elect  for  Tipperary, 
as  he  has  been  invited  to  contest  the  county  by  its  patri- 
otic electors.  His  acceptance  of  the  candidacy  is  equiv- 
alent to  an  election.  It  is  difficult,  however,  for  a  young 
barrister  to  attend  to  his  parliamentary  duties  in  London 
and  make  his  way  at  the  bar  in  Dublin.  Mr.  Dillon, 
however,  inherits  considerable  property,  and  these  are 
times  when  Irishmen  must  make  many  sacrifices  for  the 
sake  of  country.  Mr.  Parnell's  hands  must  be  strength- 
ened; the  do-nothings  must  give  way  to  bold,  active  and 
able  young  men,  and  there  is  little  doubt  but  Mr.  Dillon 
will  accept;  so  that  one  more  will  be  added  to  the  active 
party;  and  that  Tipperary  will  be  represented  by  the  son 
of  John  B.  Dillon,  the  patriot  of  '48. 

JOSEPH  BIGGAR,  M.  P. 

The  next  man  who  suggests  himself  as  a  member  of  the 
Active  party  is  Mr.  Biggar.  He  it  was  who  first  went  to 
the  rescue  of  Mr.  Parnell,  and  who  has  since  been  Mr. 
Parnell's  most  faithful  lieutenant,  if  not  most  useful  ally. 
Mr.  Biggar  is  an  Ulsterman,  a  Presbyterian,  and  a  large 
and  successful  Belfast  merchant.  The  Observatore  J^o- 
mtt-no,  one  of  the  Italian  Catholic  newspapers,  describes 
him  as  a  "  bacon  seller  " — as  if  bacon-selling  were  a  dis- 
reputable business.  Perhaps  the  Italian  gentleman  would 
think  more  kindly  of  Mr.  Biggar  were  he  a  peanut-vender 
or  an  organ  grinder,  a  member  of  the  lazaroni  or  banditti. 
Mr.  Parnell's  first  (Parliamentary)  lieutenant  is  member 
for  the  County  of  Cavan,  the  only  Ulster  County  repre- 
sented by  Home-Rulers.  Though  a  Presbyterian,  he  has 
the  entire  confidence  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Bishop  and 
clergy,  and  has  been  endorsed  by  no  less  an  authority 
than  Archbishop  MacHale  himself.  Indeed,  there  are 
no  people  in  the  world,  perhaps,  more  tolerant  than  the 
young  Catholics  of  Ireland,  as  has  been  proved  in  many  a 
contested  election,  where  they  have  returned  a  patriotic 


JOSEPH   BIGGAR,    M.  P.  217 

Irish  protestant  in  preference  to  a  Whig  Catholic,  even 
though  the  latter  had  the  endorsement  and  support  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  clergy. 

In  personal  appearance  Mr.  Biggar  is  by  no  means  pre- 
possessing, being  small,  slight,  sallow,  and  slightly  de- 
formed. He  has  wonderful  pluck  and  nerve,  and  cares 
not  for  the  opinion  of  any  man,  but  does  what  he  thinks 
is  right  and  proper.  His  father,  who  is  a  large  landed 
proprietor,  at  one  time  threatened  to  disinherit  him  on 
.account  of  his  extreme  national  opinions,  but  Joseph  told 
the  old  gentleman  to  go  ahead,  that  he  could  make  his 
own  living.  The  differences  between  father  and  son  were 
soon  healed,  and  Mr.  Biggar  will  inherit  a  very  large  for- 
tune, besides  which  he  has  amassed  a  considerable  one  on 
his  own  account.  He  is  reported  to  have  made  up  his 
mind  to  retire  from  business  very  soon,  that  he  might  de- 
vote his  whole  time  to  the  service  of  Ireland.  He  is  a 
positive  terror  to  the  House  of  Commons,  being  able,  at 
all  times,  to  talk  against  time.  This  wiry  little  Ulster 
Irishman  talks,  talks  for  hours  in  the  most  pronounced 
North  of  Ireland  brogue  (far-down  brogue  it  is  called). 
The  House  is  impatient.  Cat-calls',  groans,  hootings,  and 
cries  of  'vide,  'vide,  have  not  the  least  effect  on  Mr.  Big- 
gar.  He  has  an  inveterate  hatred  of  the  do-nothings,  and 
has  snuffed  out  two  or  three  of  them  at  various  times.  Poor 
little  O'Leary,  who  wants  to  be  known  as  the  Chevalier, 
he  annoys  beyond  measure,  by  addressing  him  as  Patrick 
O'Clery.  The  Queen's  County,  at  his  suggestion,  adopts 
the  Rev.  Isaac  Nelson,  a  Presbyterian  minister,  as  their 
candidate,  in  preference  to  Mr.  Digby,  a  high-toned  Cath- 
olic landlord,  and  Sir  George  Bowyer,  a  kind  of  lay  abbe, 
will  be  succeeded  by  Mr.  Biggar's  friend,  John  Ferguson, 
another  Ulster  Presbyterian,  of  the  publishing  house  of 
Cameron  &  Ferguson.  Mr.  Biggar  has  the  utmost  con- 
fidence in  and  admiration  for  Mr.  Parnell,  and  is  always 
ready  to  defend  him  when  assailed.  He  takes  a  great 
pride  in  being  associated  with  his  chief  as  the  promoter 
of  the  obstructive  policy,  and  his  purse  is  always  ready 
to  back  up  his  convictions. 


218  THE  MEMBER  FEOM  MAYO. 

JOHN  O'CONNOR  POWER,  M.  p. 

The  most  able  ally  of  Mr.  Parnell  is  O'Connor  Power, 
who  was  elected  to  Parliament  from  the  County  of  Mayo, 
despite  the  exertions  of  the  Catholic  clergy,  who  sup- 
ported Mr.  Thomas  Tighe,  a  local  landed  proprietor  and 
a  most  excellent  gentleman.  Mr.  Power  is  well  known 
in  this  country,  having  visited  it  on  a  lecturing  tour,  and 
also  with  Mr.  Parnell,  to  present  the  congratulations  of 
the  Irish  Nation  on  the  centennial  anniversary  of  our 
independence.  Mr.  O'Connor  Power  is  a  foroible  and 
eloquent  speaker,  and  one  of  the  best  and  jeadiest  de- 
baters in  the  House,  far  surpassing  his  leader  in  these 
particulars.  He  contributes  largely  to  the  London 
periodical  press.  His  recent  articles  in  the  Nineteenth 
Century  and  in  the  Fortnightly  Review,  have  at- 
tracted considerable  attention,  both  because  of  the  ability 
with  which  they  were  written,  and  their  clear  exposition 
of  the  purposes  of  the  land  agitation  and  the  active  policy. 
The  member  for  Mayo  is  a  young  man,  and  his  future 
promises  to  be  very  brilliant.  He  lacks  the  self- 
possession  and  calmness  of  Mr.  Parnell,  and  becomes 
quite  savage  at  the  unseemly  interruption  of  the  House. 
He  was  connected  with  the  Fenian  movement  and  served 
his  term  in  jail  for  participation  therein.  For  this  he  is 
of  course,  very  popular  in  Ireland,  although  some  of  the 
more  radical  members  of  the  organization  in  this  country 
are  not  satisfied  at  his  adopting  the  policy  of  agitation. 

W.  HENRY  O 'SULLIVAN 

is  the  tallest  man  in  the  British  Parliament,  being  about 
6  feet  6  inches  in  height.  .  His  business  occupations  are 
of  the  most  varied  character.  He  is  a  farmer,  a  hotel 
keeper,  and  owns  a  line  of  cars  which  ply  between  Kill- 
in  allock  and  Limerick.  Besides  he  is  a  financial  agent 
for  several  insurance  and  monetary  companies.  He  is 
also  the  principal  agent  in  the  South  of  Ireland  for  lead- 
ing Scotch  and  Irish  distilleries.  His  opposition  to  the 
Permissive  bills,  introduced  into  Parliament  by  Sir  Wil- 
fred Lawson  and  Mr.  A.  M.  Sullivan,  who  are  what  the 


w.  n.  O'SULLIVAN,  M.  P.  219 

late  Mr.  Hesing,  or  the  present  Mr.  Raster  would  call 
tempranzlers  and  muckers,  has  won  for  him  the  reputa- 
tion of  being1  a  drinking  man;  but  the  fact  is,  that  like 
his  chief,  he  is  a  disciple  of  Father  Mathew,  that  is,  a  cold 
water  man.  A  good  story  is  told  about  Mr.  O'Sullivan. 
While  making  a  very  fervid  speech  in  defense  of  the 
rights  (?)  of  the  liquor  dealers,  he  paused  to  moisten  his 
lips  with  a  glass  of  water.  Judge  of  his  astonishment 
when  he  found  the  liquid  to  be  as  fervid  as  his  eloquence, 
a  glass  of  the  genuine  having  been  substituted  by  one  of 
his  practical  joking  colleagues,  probably  Maj.  O'Gorman. 
The  house  saw  his  dilemma  and  roared,  but  Mr.  O'Sulli- 
van went  on  with  his  defense  of  the  dispensers  of  the  ar- 
dent. The  English  newspapers  represented  the  story  the 
other  way;  i.  e.,  that  Mr.O'Sullivan  wanted  whiskey  to  sup- 
port his  eloquence,  and  found  it  water.  Mr.  O'Sullivan  is, 
as  might  be  expected  from  his  rather  multifarious  occupa- 
tions, one  of  the  best  business  men  in  Ireland,  and  has  accu- 
mulated quite  a  fortune,  and  is  essentially  a  self-made  man. 
During  the  Fenian  excitement  in  18(35,  Mr.  O'Sullivan 
was  thought  to  entertain  dangerous  designs  against  the 
peace  of  Her  Most  Gracious  Majesty,  and  was  confined 
for  six  months  in  the  County  Jail  at  Limerick.  His  son 
passed  two  years  of  probation  at  the  same  hospitable 
mansion,  which  seems  ever  open  to  patriotic  Irishmen. 
Toward  the  close  of  the  last  Parliament,  on  the  promo- 
tion of  Monsell,  one  of  the  Keogh-Sadlier  gang,  to  the 
peerage  as  Baron  Emly,  Mr.  O'Sullivan  was  elected  by 
an  overwhelming  majority  to  represent  the  County  of 
Limerick,  after  the  most  determined  opposition  on  the 
part  of  a  rather  curious  combination  of  Catholic  clergy- 
men and  landlords.  The  arguments  used  against  Mr. 
O'Sullivan  were  of  the  most  novel  character.  As  was  be- 
fore stated,  he  is  quite  large,  and  rather  awkward.  He 
speaks  with  a  rich  Munster  brogue,  and  Dean  O'Brien, 
thought  that  Limerick  County  would  be  scandalized  by  be- 
ing- represented  by  a  man  who  could  not,  on  account  of 
his  ungainly  manner  and  his  provincial  dialect,  be  admit- 
ted to  London  society.  Now,  if  there  is  one  thing  more 
than  another  that  the  Irish  people  object  to,  it  is  to  having- 


220  FEAKK   HUGH   O?DONNELL,    M.  P. 

their  members  subjected  to  the  demoralizing  influence  of 
London  society,  so  the  priest-landlord  candidate  got  only 
about  600  votes  out  of  a  total  of  8,500.  He  was  a  society 
man.  It  may  be  said,  iu  justice  to  some  of  the  Catholic 
priests,  that  many  of  them  openly  supported  Mr.  O'Sulli- 
van,  arid  that  the  Bishop  of  the  diocese  voted  for  him. 

Mr.  O'Sullivan,  on  account  of  his  rather  extensive  busi- 
ness, relations,  is  not  a  very  regtilar  attendant  in  Parlia- 
ment, but  is  always  at  hand  when  Mr.  Parnell  is  stirring 
up  any  slight  unpleasantness,  and  is  one  of  the  latter  gen- 
tleman's trusted  friends  and  best  backers. 

PRANK   HUGH    o'DONNELL, 

the  member  for  Dungarvan,  is  a  native  of  Galway,  which 
he  represented  in  the  early  days  of  the  present  Parlia- 
ment; but  being  unseated  on  petition,  he  had  sufficient 
influence  with  the  constituency  to  procure  the  election  of 
his  college  friend  and  companion,  Dr.  Ward,  to  the  va- 
cant seat.  He  claims  descent  from  the  O'Donnells  of 
Tyrconnell,  who  gave  much  trouble  to  Queen  Elizabeth 
and  the  English  of  the  Pale.  Mr.  O'Donnell  is  a  graduate 
of  the  Queen's  University,  Ireland,  and  is  one  of  the  best- 
informed  men  in  the  House  of  Commons.  He  has  writ- 
ten some  works — principally  on  educational  topics — and 
is  a  constant  contributor  to  the  London  periodical  and 
daily  press,  contributing  principally  to  the  aristocratic 
Morning  Post  and  the  philosophic  Spectator.  Indeed,  he 
was  at  one  time  sub-editor  of  the  latter-named  journal. 
He  is  also  the  London  correspondent  of  several  of  the 
Hindoo  newspapers,  published  in  the  native  language, 
and  recently  received  the  public  thanks  of  the  editors  of 
these  papers  for  his  course  in  relation  to  Indian  aifairs  in 
Parliament.  He  is  unquestionably  the  most  troublesome 
member  with  whom  the  English  Ministers  have  to  deal. 

His  information  oh  every  measure  introduced  into  Par- 
liament is  marvelous.  He  knows  South  Africa  like  a 
book;  his  information  about  Hindostan  is  as  good  as  that 
possessed  by  any  native;  Australia  and  Canada,  the  com- 
mercial treaties  and  government,  seem  to  be  objects  of 
his  special  attention,  so  that  when  any  measure  is  brought 


FKANK   HUGH    o'DONNELL,    M.    P.  221 

forward  in  relation  to  any  of  these  places,  he  is  always 
ready  to  criticise.  No  wonder  the  Ministers  detest  this  rath- 
er effeminate  and  foppish  young  man,  with  the  inevitable 
eye-glass,  who  criticises  their  every  measure  at  such 
length,  and  with  such  perplexing  frequency.  So  thor- 
oughly unpopular  is  Mr.  O'Donnell  in  the  English  House 
of  Commons,  that  Mr.  Knowles,  the  editor  of  the  Nine- 
teenth Century,  was  afraid  to  publish  an  article  by  him 
on  "  Socialism  in  Germany,"  although  the  subject  had 
been  furnished,  and  the  article  accepted,  by  the  editor  him- 
self. Mr.  O'Donnell  published  the  rather  frank  letters 
which  passed  between  him  and  Mr.  Knowles,  as  a  speci- 
men of  English  fair  play.  He  has  taken  little  part  in  the 
land  agitation,  owing  to  a  very  serious  case  of  sunstroke 
which  occurred  to  him  at  Bolongue  the  past  summer. 
His  prodigious  literary  and  parliamentary  labors  have 
told  on  his  rather  feeble  constitution,  and  he  has  spent 
the  entire  winter  in  Paris,  where  he  has  recently  created 
quite  a  sensation,  by  the  publication  of  a  letter  in  the 
Republique  Francaise.  The  letter  calls  on  the  Conti- 
nental nations  to  elect  a  Congress  to  investigate  the  gov- 
ernment of  Ireland  by  England;  denounces  landlordism 
in  the  bitterest  language,  and  stirs  up  matters  generally. 
The  English  press  are  screaming  with  rage;  the  British 
Ambassador  has  asked  M.  Gambetta,  the  proprietor,  to 
deliver  up  the  manuscript  to  him,  as  the  letter  was  printed 
without  the  name  of  the  author,  but  simply  as  coming 
from  an  Irish  member.  M.  Gambetta  has,  of  course,  re- 
fused the  modest  request,  or  to  reveal  the  name  of  the 
author.  But  everybody  knows  that  the  letter  was 
written  by  O'Donnell.  Indeed,  he  makes  no  secret 
of  the  authorship.  The  latter  is  likely  to  be  brought 
before  the  House  of  Commons,  but  that  will  not  deter  the 
member  for  Dungarvan  from  enlightening  Europe,  through 
the  medium  of  the  press,  as  to  the  real  state  of  affairs  in 
Ireland.  The  English  have  had  their  own  way  in  that 
matter  too  long,  thinks  Mr.  O'Donnell,  who  is  very  in- 
dustrious, a  thorough  linguist,  and  now  that  his  health  is 
restored,  will  doubtless  do  some  good  service  on  the  Con- 
tinent, while  his  chief  is  pleading  the  same  cause  to  the 
American  nation. 


THE  NATIONAL  LAND  LEAGUE. 


WHAT   IRELAND    ASKS. 

IRELAND  asks  that  the  government  of  England  shall  so 
amend  her  land  laws,  as  to  enable  those  who  cultivate  the 
soil,  and  who  live  on  it,  to  become  the  owners  of  the  land 
upon  the  payment  of  the  full  value  thereof.  This  was 
done  in  France  under  the  same  condition  of  circum- 
stances; was  done  in  Belgium,  and  various  parts  of  Ger- 
many. As  to  the  legal  power  of  the  British  government 
to  make  this  change  in  the  land  laws,  and  to'  establish 
peasant  proprietorship  in  Ireland,  there  is  no  dispute  in 
England.  In  a  recent  speech  at  Edinburgh,  Mr.  Glad- 
stone, who  was  not  committed  to  the  policy,  thus  disposed 
of  the  question  of  legal  power.  Here  is  what  he  said 
upon  the  power  of  parliament  over  the  subject: 

"  To  a  proposal  of  the  kind  I  am  not  going  to  object 
on  the  ground  that  it  would  be  inconsistent  with  the 
privileges  of  landed  proprietors.  In  my  opinion  if  it  is 
known  to  be  for  the  welfare  of  the  community  at  large 
the  legislature  is  perfectly  entitled  to  buy  out  the  landed 
proprietor.  It  is  not  entitled,  morally  to  confiscate  the 
property  of  the  landed  proprietor  more  than  the  property 
of  any  other  man ;  but  it  is  perfectly  entitled  to  buy  out 
the  landed  proprietor  if  it  may  please,  for  the  purpose  of 
dividing  property  into  small  lots.  I  do  not  wish  to  re- 
commend it,  because  I  will  show  you  the  doubts  in  my 
mind  about  the  proposition.  But  to  the  principle  no  ob- 
jection can  be  taken.  Those  persons  who  possess  large 
portions  of  the  space  of  the  earth  are  not  altogether  in  the 

(222) 


EVIL   \VOKKINQ    OF   THE    TENANT-AT-WILL    SYSTEM.    223 

same  position  as  possessors  of  mere  personalty,  for  per- 
sonalty does  not  impose  the  same  limitations  on  the  ac- 
tion and  industry  and  the  well-being  to  the  community 
in  the  same  ratio  as  does  the  possession  of  land,  and, 
therefore,  I  hold  that  compulsory  appropriation,  if,  for  an 
adequate  public  object,  is  a  thing  in  itself  admissible  and 
even  sound  in  principle." 

IRISH    LAND    LAWS. 

Mr.  J.  O'Conner  Power,  also  a  member  of  the  English 
Parliament,  thus  states  the  oppression  of  the  existing  law 
and  the  remedy  sought  by  the  present  agitation.  The 
statement  is  taken  from  a  publication  made  by  him  in 
the  L  melon  Nineteenth,  Century,  for  December,  1879. 
He  thus  states  the  case: 

The  main  cause  of  Irish  poverty  is  not  to  be  found  in 
over-population,  or  in  any  want  of  energy  or  economy  on 
the  part  of  the  Irish  people,  but  in  the  system  of  land 
tenure  imposed  by  Imperial  conquest.  Foreign  competi- 
tion and  bad  harvests — by  which,  in  one  year  alone,  ac- 
cording to  the  calculation  of  Mr.  Dwyer  Gray,  Ireland 
has  lost  thirty  millions  sterling — have  had  one  advantage, 
and  that  is,  they  have  drawn  attention  in  a  striking  way  to 
the  great  evil  of  the  system  of  tenant-at-will,  the  most 
demoralizing  and  degrading  to  which  it  is  possible  to  re- 
duce the  working  population  of  any  country.  It  is  hard- 
ly in  the  power  of  language  to  describe  the  many  evil 
effects  of  this  system.  It  has  blasted  the  hopes,  ruined 
the  homes,  and  destroyed  the  lives  of  millions  of  the.  Irish 
race.  It  has  stopped  the  social,  political,  and  industrial 
growth  of  Ireland  as  effectually  as  if  the  country  had  been 
in  a  perpetual  state  of  civil  war;  and  no  war  has  ever 
been  more  cruel  in  its  incidents  or  operations  toward 
those  among  whom  it  was  carried  on,  than  the  war  which 
Irish  landlordism  has  waged  against  the  people  whose  in- 
heritance it  usurped  and  whose  property  it  has  confis- 
cated. "  The  worst  fed,  the  worst  clothed,  and  the  worst 
housed  people  in  Europe," — this  is  the  description  which 
every  impartial  traveler  who  has  seen  the  Irish  people  at 
home  has  given  of  them.  Behold  the  result  of  the  sys- 
tem of  tenant-at-will  and  centuries  of  English  rule! 


224:  IT    DENIES   PEOPLE   THE    KIGHT     TO    LIVE. 

A  STATE  OF  SLAVERY. 

Of  the  600,000  tenant-farmers  in  Ireland,  more  than 
half  a  million,  representing,  with  their  families,  about 
three  million  persons,  have  no  security  in  their  homes  or 
in  the  business  upon  which  they  depend  for  their  daily 
bread,  but  are  at  the  mercy  of  a  few  thousand  persons, — 
the  lords  of  the  soil  of  Ireland.  Agriculture  being  the 
mainspring  of  the  nation's  wealth,  the  interests  of  the 
commercial  and  trading  community  are  naturally  depend- 
ent upon  the  industries  of  the  farmers,  and  so  it  results 
that  the  fate  and  fortunes  of  more  than  five  millions  of 
people  are  in  the  hands  of  the  small  section,  numbering 
not  more  than  a  few  thousands.  No  system  of  govern- 
ment could  possibly  bring  prosperity  to  a  people  so  cir- 
cumstanced. Even  if  they  were  endowed  with  all  the  at- 
tributes of  political  freedom,  their  social  condition  would 
still  be  a  condition  of  slavery.  They  are  the  victims  of  a 
system  clearly  incompatible  with  social  rights  and  indus- 
trial freedom.  It  may  be  necessary  for  me  to  explain 
here  what  I  mean  by  "  social  right  "  and  "  industrial  free- 
dom." Social  right  may  be  defined  in  words  which  are 
to  be  found  in  the  Declaration  of  American  Independ- 
ence, and  I  would  define  it  in  those  words,  as  "  the  right 
to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  ";  and  indus- 
trial freedom,  in  the  sense  in  which  I  use  the  phrase,  is 
the  right  of  the  workers  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  their  own 
exertions,  and  to  be  safe  in  the  pursuit  of  their  industry 
from  the  rapacity  of  their  neighbors.  There  is  nothing 
more  capable  of  proof  than  that  the  present  land  system 
of  Ireland  is  opposed  to  the  social  rights  and  the  indus- 
trial freedom  of  the  Irish  people  as  here  understood. 
When  a'people  die  in  large  numbers  of  starvation  in  their 
own  country,  or  fly  from  it  because  they  cannot  get  enough 
to  eat  out  of  the  food  which  that  country  has  produced, 
and  which  is  more  than  sufficient  to  sustain  them,  that  peo- 
ple are  denied  the  right  to  live  ;  and  if  a  people  have  not 
a  right  to  live  in  their  own  land  while  it  is  rich  enough  to 
support  them,  they  are  deprived  of  liberty  and  the  pur- 
suit of  happiness. 


THE    APPALLIXG    INJUSTICE    OF    THE   SYSTEM.       225 
STARVING    AMID    PLENTY. 

This  is  what  took  place  in  Ireland  during  the  famine 
of  1846  and  1847.  The  people  perished  in  the  midst  of 
food  twice  sufficient  to  sustain  them,  because  the  food 
they  produced  had  to  be  exported  in  immense  quantities 
to  pay  the  exorbitant  rents  of  the  landlords.  Nothing 
could  more  clearly  demonstrate  the  low  standard  of  living 
among  the  small  farmers,  and  the  small  amount  of  the 
produce  they  were  permitted  to  keep  for  their  own  use, 
than  the  fact  that  they  were  reduced  to  a  dependence  on 
the  potato  as  their  principal  food.  When  that  failed  they 
had  no  resource.  The  rest  of  the  vegetable  food  and 
nearly  all  of  the  animal  food  produced  in  the  country  be- 
came the  property  of  the  non-producing  landlord  class, 
and  was  exported  to  pay  their  dues.  The  bare  statement 
of  these  facts  reveals  at  once  the  appalling  injustice  of  the 
system,  but  we  must  examine  it  further  to  fully  realize  its 
wickedness  and  the  mischief  which  it  has  wrought.  What 
can  be  more  opposed  to  every  principle  of  well-doing  than  a 
system  which  paralyzes  industry,  which  puts  a  premium 
on  idleness,  which  fosters  improvidence,  which  generates 
servility,  hypocrisy,  and  ignorance,  which  shuts  out  every 
gleam  of  hope  of  rising  in  the  world;  which  entails  per- 
petual drudgery  and  social  dependence,  and  even  invades 
the  sanctity  of  the  domestic  relations?  Such  is  the  sys- 
tem of  tenant-at-will  under  which  3,000,000  of  the  Irish 
people  are  condemned  to  wear  out  their  lives. 

It  is  not  in  the  nature  of  things  that  the  Irish  cultiva- 
tor should  be  as  industrious  as  the  peasant  proprietor  in 
the  Channel  Islands  or  on  the  Continent,  for  the  former 
wants  that  which  the  latter  possesses — security.  The 
former  is  liable  to  eviction  at  the  will  and  pleasure  of  a 
taskmaster;  the  latter  is  the  undisputed  lord  of  his  own 
land  and  possesses  "  the  magic  of  property  which  turns 
sand  into  gold."  Mr.  Mill  well  recognized  the  premium 
on  idleness  under  the  tenant-at-will  system  when  he  said 
that  the  Irish  tenant  was  the  only  human  being  in  exist- 
ence who  had  nothing  to  gain  by  increased  industry,  and 
nothing  to  lose  by  increased  idleness.  Then  there  is 

15 


226     PROMOTES    IDLENESS    AND    GENERATES    IGNORANCE. 

nothing  so  well  calculated  to  make  a  man  reckless  and 
improvident  as  uncertainty  in  his  position.  It  often  har- 
rasses  the  very  life  and  soul  of  men  of  the  highest  moral 
fibre,  and  must  be  destructive  of  all  order  and  economy  in 
the  lives  of  those  less  fortunately  constituted.  The 
struggling  farmer,  whose  imagination  is  haunted  by  the 
alternative  prospect  of  the  poor-house  or  the  emigrant- 
ship,  has  certainly  a  gloomy  existence,  bereft  of  comfort, 
encouragement,  and  aspiration.  The  mortal  dread  of 
the  agent's  frown  or  the  landlord's  slightest  displeasure 
still  characterizes  the  tenant-at-will,  notwithstanding  the 
bracing  effects  of  public  agitation,  and  shows  what  an 
atmosphere  of  servility  and  hypocrisy  combined  arises 
from  the  present  unnatural  condition  of  rural  society  in 
that  country.  But  a  system  which  so  far  taxes  the  indus- 
try of  the  people  as  to  compel  their  children  to  work  in 
the  fields  when  they  ought  to  be  at  school,  is  responsible 
for  more  than  the  physical  misery  which  it  inflicts.  It 
generates  ignorance,  and  thereby  deprives  the  people  of 
one  of  the  most  potent  means  of  self-advancement. 

A    DEGRADING    SLAVERY. 

The  Irish  farmer  is  often  obliged  to  set  his  children  to 
work  before  they  have  had  time  to  acquire  the  rudest  ele- 
ments of  education,  in  order  to  turn  their  youthful  labor 
to  account  in  squeezing  the  rent  and  a  scanty  subsistence 
out  of  the  farm.  On  some  Irish  estates,  too,  a  tenant 
dare  not  harbor  in  his  house  a  stranger,  a  poor  person,  or 
even  a  poor  relative  not  immediately  belonging  to  the 
family,  and  the  Land  Commission  recently  sent  through 
Ireland  by  the  I^reeman's  Journal,  whose  reports  ought 
to  be  read  by  every  one  anxious  to  be  acquainted  with 
the  facts  of  the  present  crisis,  declares  that  on  some  prop- 
erties marriages  cannot  be  consummated  without  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  landlord  or  his  agent !  Surely  this  is  slavery 
of  the  most  degrading,  intolerable  kind,  and  the  sys- 
tem by  which  it  is  upheld,  an  outrage  on  civilization. 
The  whole  history  of  Irish  landlordism  is  a  record  of  har- 
dened cruelty,  without  a  parallel  in  the  social  annals  of 
any  other  nation.  Edmund  Spenser  says  in  his  "  View 


IRISH  LANDLORDISM  A  KECOKD  OF  CKUEL  BONDAGE.    227 

of  the  State  of  Ireland,"  that  the  landlords  of  his  time 
"used  most  shamefully  to  rack  their  tenants."  Swift  repeats 
this  accusation  in  his  own  day  in  the  following  language  : 
"Another  cause  of  this  nation's  misery  is  that  Egyptian 
bondage  of  cruel,  oppressing,  and  covetous  landlords,  ex- 
pecting all  who  live  under  them  should  make  bricks  with- 
out straw,  who  grieve  or  envy  when  they  see  a  tenant  of 
their  own  in  a  whole  coat  or  able  to  afford  one  comforta- 
ble meal  in  a  month,  by  which  the  spirits  of  the  people 
are  broken  and  made  fit  for  slavery."  And  even  Mr. 
Froude  is  constrained  to  say  :  "  The  landlords  in  Ireland 
represent  conquest  and  confiscation,  and  they  have  gone 
on  with  an  indifference  to  the  welfare  of  their  tenants  that 
would  never  be  tolerated  in  England  or  Scotland." 

In  the  reports  of  the  Irish  famine  compiled  by  the  So- 
ciety of  Friends,  who  earned  the  lasting  gratitude  of  Ire- 
land by  their  noble  and  generous  efforts  to  save  the  lives 
of  her  people,  there  is  a  strong  indictment  against  the 
landlord  class  for  their  gross  neglect  of  duty  in  that  ter- 
rible crisis;  and  it  must  then  be  affirmed  that  landed 
property  in  Ireland  can  show  nothing  in  its  origin  or  its 
history  upon  which  to  found  a  claim  to  the  consideration 
of  the  Irish  people,  nor  can  they  be  expected  to  extend 
any  further  toleration  to  its  unrestricted  and  mischievous 
power. 

Any  one  closely  examining  the  condition  of  the  Irish 
land  classes  will  discover  that,  contrary  to  the  general 
rule  elsewhere,  it  is  the  wealthier  classes,  the  landlords, 
not  the  tenants,  who  show  the  greatest  ignorance  of 
economic  principles.  They  are,  as  a  class,  the  most  list- 
less, unenterprising,  and  non-producing  section  of  the 
country,  while  at  the  same  time  they  are  the  masters  of 
its  resources.  See,  for  example,  the  enormous  growth  of 
absenteeism,  which  drains,  directly  and  indirectly,  no  less 
than  six  millions  annually  out  of  Ireland,  not  a  penny  of 
which  ever  returns  to  benefit  those  by  whom  it  is  sup- 
plied. Six  millions  sterling  a  year!  that  is  to  say,  a  sum 
sufficient  to  support  100,000  workingmen  and  their  fami- 
lies— 500,000  persons — in  decency  and  comfort.  The 
action  of  the  landlords  has  been  very  injurious  to  their 


228    ACTION   OF   LANDLORDS    INJURIOUS   TO    THEMSELVES. 

own  interests,  as  well  as  to  those  of  the  farmers;  for, 
though  the  value  of  property  continued  to  rise  steadily 
for  many  years  before  the  beginning  of  the  present  de- 
pression, it  would  have  risen  much  more  rapidly  and  to  a 
far  higher  point  if  the  lords  of  the  soil  condescended  to 
abate  their  feudal  privileges,  or  if  they  were  as  anxious 
to  perform  the  duties  as  they  have  been  to  enforce  the 
rights  of  property.  Under  the  present  system  it  is  the 
interest  of  the  tenant  to  put  as  little  into  the  soil  and  to 
take  as  much  out  of  it  as  he  possibly  can.  Under  a  sys- 
tem which  would  give  him  security  in  his  holding  and 
protection  against  exorbitant  rents,  the  fanner  would 
nurse  his  farm  as  the  prudent  merchant  nurses  his  busi- 
ness. He  would  feel  that  it  was  his  interest  to  put  all 
his  capital  into  it,  confident  that  it  would  return  to  him 
in  due  time  with  a  fair  profit.  Thus  the  price  of  land 
would  be  improved  by  the  inducements  which  such  a 
tenure  would  hold  out  to  every  incoming  tenant  in  every 
case  where  a  farmer  had  disposed  of  his  holding.  What 
a  mockery  of  all  received  ideas  of  political  economy  it  is 
to  see  fertile  lands  going  out  of  cultivation  in  Ireland, 
and  the  Irish  at  the  same  time  leaving  their  country  in 
search  of  employment!  This  is  not  the  natural  result  of 
supply  and  demand,  for  it  is  well  known  that  the  Irish 
people  are  warmly  attached  to  their  native  land,  and 
would  never  quit  it  in  large  numbers  if  they  could  man- 
age to  live  at  home.  It  is  the  result  of  landlordism, 
which  blights  the  industry  of  the  whole  country,  and 
which  has  during  the  last  thirty  years  banished  nearly 
30,000,000  of  the  Irish  race  forever  from  the  land  that 
bore  them. 

A.  million  a  decade!    "What  does  it  mean? 

A  nation  dying  of  inner  decay; 
A  churchyard's  silence  where  lite  has  been, 

The  base  of  the  pyramid  crumbling  away; 
A  drift  of  men  gone  over  the  sea, 
A  drift  of  the  dead  where  men  should  be. 

Those  who  cry  out  against  State  interfenco  with  the 
tenure  of  land  forget  that  the  present  state  of  things  in 
Ireland  is  the  result  of  State  interference.  Irish  land- 


THERE   IS   NO   ABSOLUTE   PROPERTY   IN   LAND.       229 

reformers  only  want  the  State  to  undo  what  the  State  has 
done.  They  only  ask  the  State  to  restore  the  ancient 
rights  to  the  tillers  of  the  soil.  The  State  abolished  the 
old  tenure  by  which  the  soil  was  held  for  the  benefit  of 
those  who  cultivated  it,  and  aLowed  the  usurpation  of 
the  rights  of  the  cultivators  by  landlords.  As  the  Eng- 
lish qonquest  extended  over  Ireland  the  land  system  dis- 
appeared. The  rights  of  the  cultivators  were  confiscated 
as  well  as  the  property  of  the  native  land-owners,  and  to 
this  double  confiscation  we  trace  the  only  title  upon 
which  Irish  landlordism  can  rest  its  sacred  pretensions. 

THE    LAND  LEAGUE'S  PROJECT. 

The  principle  which  underlies  the  Land  Act  of  1870 
was  the  well-established  principle  that  "there  is  no  such 
thing  as  absolute  property  in  land."  It  is  not  necessary, 
therefore,  to  go  back  on  former  discussions  for  the  pur- 
pose of  enforcing  a  principle  which  has  found  sanction  in 
an  act  of  Parliament.  Starting  from  this  principle,  then, 
let  us  proceed  to  consider  the  proposal  put  forward  by 
the  National  Land  League  as  the  only  one  calculated  to 
effect  a  satisfactory  and  final  solution  of  the  Irish  land 
question.  The  proposal,  stripped  of  all  ambiguity,  is  to 
abolish  landlordism  and  make  the  cultivators  the  owners 
of  the  soil.  This  is  undoubtedly  a  vast  undertaking,  the 
dimensions  of  which  should  be  fully  appreciated  by  those 
who  have  resolved  to  accomplish  it.  The  labor  and  sacri- 
fice of  a  whole  generation,  constantly  exerting  itself  to 
promote  this  great  object,  would  not  be  greater  than  it 
deserves,  and  the  energy  of  the  highest  patriotism  could 
scarcely  be  directed  to  a  nobler  end  than  that  of  bring- 
ing comfort  and  consolation  and  security  to  the  humble 
firesides  of  the  tillers  of  the  soil.  It  is  proposed  that  the 
State  should  take  over  the  land,  giving  the  landlords 
proper  compensation,  and  settle  the  tenants  upon  it  per- 
manently as  tenant  proprietors.  This  proposal,  consid- 
ered in  its  financial  aspect  alone,  will  appear  formidable 
to  many  people,  for  it  is  estimated  that  it  would  require 
£250,000,000  to  carry  it  out.  But  no  one  imagines  that 
it  can  be  effected  all  at  once  by  one  financial  transaction. 


230    DIFFICULTIES    INCIDENT   TO    STATE    INTERFERENCE. 

A  loan  for  this  sum  of  money  could  not  be  raised  except 
at  a  rate  of  interest  which  would  be  much  higher  than  it 
could  be  borrowed,  as  if  borrowed  in  small  sums  and  at 
intervals.  On  financial  grounds,  then,  it  seems  more 
practicable  and  desirable  that  the  scheme  should  be  car- 
ried out  gradually  than  that  it  should  be  attempted  to 
realize  it  in  one  sweeping  measure.  Even  if  the  money 
were  forthcoming  on  easy  terms,  it  could  not  be  hastily 
applied  to  the  purpose  in  view  without  much  confusion 
arising  from  inexperience;  and,  perhaps,  no  little  job- 
bery arising  from  the  many  interests  involved,  and  the 
desire  of  many  persons  to  be  employed  in  executing  work 
undertaken  by  the  State. 

THE  MODUS  OPERANDI. 

Many  difficulties  incident  to  State  interference  in  a 
work  of  this  kind  would  be  removed  or  considerably  di- 
minished by  gradual  operations  which  would  give  time  to 
have  the  character  of  each  step  taken  tested  by  its  re- 
sults; and  on  social  grounds  it  seems  not  less  desirable 
that  the  transfer  of  the  ownership  of  the  soil  from  a  lim- 
ited number  to  the  great  body  of  the  people  should  be 
only  gradually  accomplished.  It  is  e  viden  t  from  the  terms 
of  a  resolution  passed  at  the  first  meeting  of'the  National 
Land  League  that  its  modus  operandi  is  designed  to  lead 
gradually  to  the  object  in  view, — the  establishment  of  an 
occupier  proprietary.  This  resolution  declares:  "  That 
the  objects  of  the  League  can  be  best  attained  (1),  by 
promoting  organization  among  the  tenant  farmers;  (2),  by 
defending  those  who  may  be  threatened  with  eviction  for 
refusing  to  pay  unjust  rents;  (3),  by  facilitating  the  work- 
ing of  the  Bright  clauses  of  the  Land  act;  and  (4),  by  ob- 
taining such  a  reform  in  the  laws  relating  to  land  as  will 
enable  every  tenant  to  become  the  owner  of  his  holding 
by  paying  a  fair  rent  for  a  limited  number  of  years."  It 
only  remains  then  to  push  forward  with  the  utmost  en- 
ergy those  minor  reforms  framed  to  mitigate  the  evils  of 
the  existing  system,  such  as  the  abolition  of  all  artificial 
restrictions  on  the  sale  and  transfer  of  land,  the  abolition 
of  the  laws  of  primogeniture  and  entail,  the  more  efficient 


ADVANTAGES   OF   A   PEASANT   PROPRIETARY.        231 

working  of  the  Bright  clause  of  the  Land  act,  and  the  re- 
clamation and  distribution  of  the  waste  lands,  while  keep- 
ing steadily  in  view  the  main  object  of  emancipating  the 
entire  agricultural  population  from  the  power  of  land- 
lordism. Large  as  the  sum  of  money  is  which  would  be 
required  to  buy  out  the  Irish  landlords,  the  proposal  to 
raise  it  should  not  excite  the  unreasonable  indignation 
exhibited  in  some  quarters;  we  know  not  how  soon  the 
Government  may  involve  us  in  a  war  with  Russia,  which 
might  cost  that  amount  without  doing  one-hundreth  part 
as  much  good,  assuming  it  to  be  just  and  necessary,  as 
the  dis-establishment  of  Irish  landlords  would  effect. 

ADYANTAGES    OF    A    PEASANT   PROPRIETARY. 

The  advantages  of  a  peasant  proprietary  over  the  system 
of  landlord  and  tenant  are  being  admitted  more  and 
more  every  day.  The  industrious  application  and  thrifty 
management  of  the  small  owners  of  land  in  the  Channel 
Islands,  in  France  and  Prussia,  in  Belgium,  Holland, 
Switzerland,  and  Norway,  are  the  admiration  of  all  who 
have  made  themselves  acquainted  with  rural  life  and 
labor  in  those  countries.  If  we  would  see  the  brightest 
examples  of  cheerful,  uncomplaining  toil,  we  must  visit 
those  lands  in  which  the  husbandman  is  to  be  found,  with 
his  sons  and  daughters,  cultivating  his  patch  of  land  in 
the  security  of  independent  ownership.  In  those  coun- 
tries we  shall  find  a  comfortable  and  prosperous,  if  not 
wealthy,  agricultural  class,  who  are  the  best  friends  of 
social  order  and  the  bulwarks  of  national  defense  in 
every  national  emergency.  Into  such  materials  as  these 
it  is  the  ambition  of  Irish  land-reformers  to  convert  the 
masses  of  the  Irish  people  who  live  by  the  cultivation  of 
the  soil.  A  great  change  in  the  social  structure  of  Ire- 
land is  needed.  No  one  who  knows  Ireland  as  it  is  can 
say  that  the  social  condition  of  the  country  is  satisfactory. 
The  gulf  between  enormous  wealth  and  abject  poverty  is 
wider  there  than  in  any  other  part  of  Europe,  and  the 
enormously  wealthy  are  only  a  few,  while  the  abjectly 
poor  are  counted  by  millions.  It  is  urged  against  the 
proposal  of  the  Land  League  that  it  would  involve  the 


232  SPEECH    OF    MICHAEL    DAV1TT. 

destruction  of  the  aristocracy,  and  that  it  is  necessary  to 
preserve  their  power  as  a  counteracting  force  against 
democracy,  which,  in  the  absence  of  the  landlord  class, 
might  nttain  uncontrolled  supremacy.  Those  who  take 
this  view  are  evidently  alarmed,  and,  as  they  must  be 
anxious  to  make  landlordism  tolerable  to  the  Irish  peo- 
ple, they  are  not  likely  to  contend  any  longer  against 
the  abolition  of  the  arbitrary  power  of  eviction  and  fack- 
renting.  I  cannot,  however,  admit  that  the  accumula- 
tion of  land  in  the  hands  of  a  few  is  indispensable  to  the 
preservation  of  a  powerful  upper  class  in  any  country, 
assuming  such  to  be  necessarv.  We  shall  always  have 
varying  social  grades,  some  higher  and  some  lower  than 
the  rest,  and  the  highest  duty  of  statesmanship  is  to 
endeavor  to  do  justice  to  all.  The  power  of  landlordism, 
as  it  exists  in  Ireland,  rests  on  a  basis  of  injustice,  and 
therefore  it  is  doomed. 

THE    ARKESTS    IX    IRELAND. 

Upon  the  first  meetings  being  held  in  Ireland,  the 
British  government  ordered  the  arrest  of  certain  speak- 
ers who  were  charged  with  sedition.  One  of  these  was 
Michael  Davitt,  and  from  the  London  Times  of  Novem- 
ber 29,  we  take  the  following  report  of  Davitt's  language, 
on  which  the  charge  of  treason  and  sedition  is  founded  : 

"  Why  are  we  here  to-day,  on  the  Monday  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  of  civilization,  protesting  against  an  im- 
moral system  of  land  laws  that  has  been  swept  away 
from  the  path  of  every  other  civilized  people  ?  I  say 
this  is  a  question  we  should  put  to  ourselves  to-day,  and 
we  should  give  no  indefinite  answer.  But,  if  it  is  true,  I 
deny  that  you  should  draw  upon  that  in  this  year,  with 
impending  famine  and  dire  misfortune  before  us,  in  order 
to  satisfy  the  greed  and  avarice  of  the  landlords.  If  you 
have  %it,  then  I  say  look  first  to  the  necessity  of  your 
children,  of  your  wives,  and  of  your  homes.  If  you 
have  a  charitable  disposition  to  meet  the  wants  of  the 
landlord,  give  him  what  you  can  spare,  and  give  him  no 
more. 

"I  am  one  of  those  peculiarly  constituted  Irishmen  who 


SPEECH    OF   MICHAEL    DAVITT.  233 

believe  that  rent  for  land  in  any  circumstances,  prosper- 
ous times  or  bad  times,  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  an 
unjust  and  immoral  tax  upon  the  industry  of  a  people, 
and  I  further  believe  that  landlordism  as  an  institution  is 
an  open  conspiracy  against  the  well-being,  prosperity, 
and  happiness  of  a  people  ;  aud  I  say  that  anything  that 
is  immoral,  whether  it  be  a  rent  or  an  open  conspiracy 
of  landlordism,  has  to  be  crushed  by  the  people  who  suf- 
fer in  consequence  of  it. 

"  Look  at  it  from  a  purely  commercial  point  of  view,  and 
how  does  it  operate  against  the  people  in  the  country?  Say 
that  the  600,000  farmers  in  Ireland  earn  on  an  average 
£1,  10s  each  week,  and  some  earn  a  great  deal  less.  How- 
ever, we  will  put  £1,  10s  as  the  average  weekly  earnings 
of  the  farmers  of  Ireland,  and  that  would  produce  an  ag- 
gregate sum  of  about  £45,000,000  a  year  earned  by  600,- 
000  farmers  in  Ireland.  Of  that  sum  of  £45,000,000,  how 
much  do  you  think  3,000  individuals,  called  landlords, 
exact  for  themselves  every  year?  Mind,  3,000 — about 
one-third  the  number  of  persons  present  at  this  meeting. 
Well,  the  3,000  Irish  landlords  pocket  the  neat  sum  of 
£20,000,000,  or  nearly  half  the  entire  earnings  of  the 
600,000  Irish  farmers.  But  not  only  that.  Not  a  single 
one  of  them  ever  puts  a  foot  to  plow  or  hand  to  spade  to 
earn  a  penny  of  it.  The  farmers  must  labor  from  morn 
till  eve  to  support  themselves  and  their  children,  when 
in  steps  the  lazy,  unproductive  landlord,  and  demands 
almost  half  the  money  so  earned  to  sustain  himself  in  the 
licentious  and  voluptuous  life  he  very  often  leads — not  in 
Ireland,  but  away  in  London,  Paris,  and  elsewhere.  Not 
only  does  this  system  rob  you  of  half  your  earnings,  but 
it  robs  Ireland,  it  impoverishes  Ireland,  and  goes  away 
to  another  country  to  enrich  another  people  who  never 
earned  it;  and  are  we  going  to  tolerate  any  tinkering  of 
this  system?  Are  we  here  to  listen  to  any  proposal  of 
fixity  of  tenure  at  fair  rents  with  periodical  valuations? 

"I  say  that,  in  face  of  another  impending  famine  too 
plainly  visible,  the  time  has  come  when  the  manhood  of 
Ireland  will  spring  to  its  feet  and  say  that  it  will  tolerate 
this  system  no  longer.  I  say  we  are  here  to-day  to  pro- 


234:  SPEECH   OF    MICHAEL    DAVITT. 

claim  our  determination  to  work  unitedly  and  to  work 
unceasingly  until  all  the  restrictions  that  militate  against 
the  proper  cultivation  of  the  soil  of  Ireland  and  against 
the  happiness  and  contentment  of  its  people,  are  swept 
away,  once  and  forever. 

"  We  have  got  to  stand  on  our  just  rights  as  given  to  us 
by  Almighty  God.  He  created  this  fruitful  land  of  ours, 
and  decreed  that  those  of  His  people  who  should  inhabit 
it,  should  live  on  the  land  by  the  fruits  of  their  honest  in- 
dustry and  labor.  If  they  propose  to  you  to  send  you 
out  to  Canada,  or  to  Australia,  or  to  Zululand,  tell  them 
you  will  not  go  ;  point  to  your  own  fruitful  valleys  and 
everlasting  hills,  and  say  that  you  will  keep  a  firm  grip, 
not  only  ot'  your  homesteads,  but  of  Ireland,  and  this  be 
your  answer  to  these  emigration  schemes.  Mr.  O'Connor 
told  you  that  it  is  probable  the  government  might  have 
Zululand  in  its  eye  when  its  officials  and  its  organs  talk 
about  an  emigration  scheme,  but  I  will  tell  you  why  I  do 
not  believe  they  meant  that.  There  is  a  great  similarity 
between  the  Irish  pike  and  the  Zulu  assegai,  and  the  Eng- 
lish soldiers  who  went  out  to  civilize  the  Zulus  at  the 
point  of  the  bayonet  found  that  the  savage  Africans  knew 
how  to  handle  the  assegai  almost  as  well  as  our  ancestors 
knew  how  to  handle  the  pike  in  '98.  In  conclusion,  I 
would  ask  you  not  to  be  content  with  coming  to  these 
meetings  and  applauding  sentences  in  connection  with 
landlordism  or  the  misgovernment  of  Ireland  ;  but  to 
•work, — to  co-operate  together,  in  clubs  and  in  protection 
societies,  until  there  is  such  an  overpowering  organization 
throughout  the  whole  of  Ireland  that  will  not  only  break 
down  landlordism,  but  every  other  barrier  that  stands 
between  the  people  of  Ireland  and  their  just  rights." 

PARNELL  STATES  THE  CASE. 

At  a  meeting  held  in  Indianapolis  on  the  evening  of 
Wednesday,  January  21st,  1880,  Mr.  Parnell  made  Ihe 
following  comprehensive  explanation  of  the  whole  case 
now  under  discussion.  He  said: 

"Many  of  you  from  Ireland  will  understand  that  the 
Irish  land  question  is,  with  us,  a  very  burning  question, 


EMIGRATION   NOT   REMEDIAL.  235 

indeed.  It  may  be  considered  extraordinary  to  many 
Americans,  inhabitants  of  a  country  where  land  is  so  very 
plentiful,  that  this  Irish  land  question  should  have  excited, 
from  time  to  time,  so  much  ill  feeling  and  animosity; 
that  such  a  struggle  should  have  gone  on  in  that  country 
between  the  tenants  on  one  side,  who  occupy  the  land,  and 
the  landlords  on  the  other  side  who  own  it.  As  I  have 
said,  you  in  America  have  boundless  tracts  of  land,  and 
you  say  to  us  in  Ireland,  "  Why  don"t  you  come  out  to 
America,  and  we  will  give  you  as  much  land  as  ever  you 
want  for  nothing."  Well,  a  great  many  of  us  have  come 
from  time  to  time.  I  suppose  Ireland  has  sent  more 
people,  in  proportion  to  her  population,  to  America,  than 
any  six  other  European  countries  put  together.  In  fact, 
by  a  calculation  which  has  been  made,  I  am  told  that 
quite  one-third  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  country  are 
either  Irish  born,  or  else  descended  of  Irish  born  par- 
ents. So  we  all  see  that  if  emigration  were  the  cure  for 
the  ills  of  Ireland,  Ireland  would  be  the  most  happy 
and  prosperous  country  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  because, 
for  more  than  a  century  we  have  been  emigrating,  and 
emigrating,  and  emigrating,  until  at  one  time  it  almost 
seemed  as  if  there  would  be  nobody  left  in  Ireland  to  emi- 
grate at  all. 

THE  IRISH  LAND   SYSTEM. 

"Now  as  to  the  Irish  land  question:  The  system  of 
tenure  that  obtains  in  Ireland  is  what  is  known  as  the 
feudal  system.  It  is  one  which  gives  the  ownership  of 
the  soil  to  the  landlords,  who  mainly  live  out  of  the 
country.  It  merely  gives  the  right  to  the  tenant  of  oc- 
cupying those  lands  upon  payment  of  a  certain  amount  of 
rent,  and  upon  a  very  uncertain  tenure,  indeed.  The 
system  of  tenure  in  Ireland  is  this:  The  tenant  is  allowed 
to  hold  his  farm  upon  a  six  months'  notice  to  quit;  and 
the  rent  at  any  time  at  the  expiration  of  six  months,  may 
be  altered  by  the  landlord  *t  his  own  will.  You  will  see 
that  that  is  a  very  uncertain  tenure  for  a  property  like 
land.  Land  requires  a  great  deal  to  be  done  before  it  can 
produce  anything  at  all.  These  lands  had  been  reclaimed 


236  THE   SYSTEM   IN   IEELAXD   TJN^ATUKAL. 

and  made  fertile  entirely  by  the  exertions  of  the  tenants. 
The  landlords  had  spent  no  capital  upon  them  whatever. 
The  tenants  who  have  been  upon  them  have  reclaimed 
them,  and  made  them  fertile.  They  put  all  the  improve- 
ments upon  them  which  now  exist.  You  will  naturally 
say  that  a  six  months'  tenure  is  a  very  uncertain  tenure 
for  a  property  like  land.  If  at  any  time  the  landlord  may 
come  in  at  the  end  of  six  months  and  say  to  the  tenant 
'You  must  go  off  of  this  land;  I  won't  even  allow  you  to 
reap  the  crops  you  have  sown  or  to  dig  the  potatoes;  I 
will  give  you  no  compensation  for  the  buildings  you  have 
placed  there,  for  the  drains  you  have  dug  that  have  dried 
the  land,  or  for  the  manures  you  have  put  in,  or  the  fences 
you  have  made.'  You  will  see  that  such  a  condition  of 
tenure  is  not  calculated,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  to  induce 
the  tenants  to  lay  out  their  industry  in  making  these  im- 
provements. 

"The  tenants  in  Ireland,  with  one  exception,  have  al- 
ways held  their  farms  on  these  uncertain  tenures,  and, 
worse  than  that,  they  have  actually,  from  time  to  time, 
many^of  them,  in  large  numbers,  been  dispossessed  in  this 
way.  Their  improvements  have  been  confiscated,  their 
rents  have  been  raised  enormously,  so  that  in  three- 
fourths  of  Ireland,  among  the  tenant  class — a  class  who 
are  of  such  enormous  importance  for  the  well  being  of 
an  agricultural  community — there  exists  such  'a  state  of 
uncertainty  that  the  tenants  fear  to  cultivate  the  lands  or 
to  expend  anything  in  improvements.  I  think  I  have 
demonstrated  to  you  that  the  system  of  tenure  is  a  very 
uncertain  one  in  Ireland.  It  is  a  matter  about  which  you, 
of  course,  have  no  experience;  a  matter  that  you  cannot 
realize  here  where  a  man  owns  the  land  that  he  tills,  and 
where  his  improvements  are  his  own,  and  where  nobody 
can  step  in  and  confiscate  them.  That  is  a  natural  sys- 
tem of  ownership.  Ours  in  Ireland  is  unnatural  and  an 
artificial  system.  At  the  present  moment  we  are  engaged 
in  a  very  agrarian  movement  in  Ireland,  which  is  already 
become  the  greatest  political  movement  that  has  ever 
taken  place  in  that  country  since  the  repeal  of  the  tithes, 
and  which  bids  fair  to  entirely  alter  the  present  system 


THE   STATE   HAS   THE   EIGHT   TO   TAKE   LANDS.      237 

and  kind  of  tenure  there.  What  do  we  desire?  We  desire 
to  make  the  tenants  the  owners  of  the  soil  with  as  little 
possible  injury  as  possible  to  tested  rights.  The  shout  of 
communism  has  been  raised  against  us.  We  are  told 
we  must  not  interfere  with  the  property  of  others;  that 
we  are  endeavoring  to  rob  the  landlords.  I  shall  show 
you  bye-and-bye,  that  we  propose  to  compensate  landlords 
far  better  than  they  deserve  for  the  termination  of  their  in- 
terests. 

EIGHTS  OF  PEOPEETY. 

I  shall  also  show  you  that  there  is  no  foundation  for  the 
cry  that  has  been  raised  as  regards  the  interference  with 
the  rights  of  property  in  this  instance.  First  of  all,  we 
must  bear  in  mind  the  very  radical  difference  that  exists 
between  landed  property  and  any  other  property.  It  is 
one  of  the  first  principles  of  the  English  law;  one  of  the 
best  settled  principles;  one  which  has  been  repeatedly 
sanctioned  and  acted  upon  by  the  Legislature,  that  the 
State  may  forcibly  appropriate  any  landed  property  when 
it  is  shown  that  this  appropriation  is  for  the  benefit  of  the 
community  at  large.  That  principle  is  daily  acted  upon 
in  England  and  in  America;  also  railroad  companies  in 
America  and  in  England  are  entitled  to  take  lands  forci- 
bly, without  the  owner's  consent,  and  compensate  for 
them.  The  cry  of  the  rights  of  property  can  not  there  be 
raised,  as  it  is  for  the  public  utility.  In  the  same  way  we 
claim  that  in  Ireland  the  State  is  entitled  to  take  the  land 
from  the  landlords,  and  to  hand  them  to  the  tenants,  pro- 
vided we  can  show  that  the  measure  of  public  utility  to 
be  derived  from  that  step  is  in  proportion  to  the  magni- 
tude of  it.  We  shall  be  asked,  of  course,  for  precedence; 
and  it  is  quite  right  that  where  we  propose  a  startling  in- 
novation upon  the  rights  of  property  that  we  should  be 
prepared  to  point  to  well-founded  and  well-known  pre- 
cedents. 

THE    OLD    FEUDAL    SYSTEM 

existed  in  almost  every  country  except  Russia.  There 
they  had  a  very  different  system,  which,  however,  was 
trenched  in  upon  after  a  time.  In  almost  every  country 


238         PRUSSIA   ABOLISHED   THE   FEUDAL    SYSTEM. 

in  Europe  this  feudal  system  of  land  tenure  has  existed; 
in  other  words,  the  land  was  owned  by  a  few  landlords 
and  cultivated  by  the  majority. 

It  is  a  very  remarkable  fact  that  in  every  European 
country  where  the  feudal  system  of  land  tenure  has  ex- 
isted, it  has  been  found  more  or  less  unsupportable,  and 
the  State  has  stepped  in  in  each  case  and  taken  the  land 
away  from  the  landlords  and  transferred  it  to  the  tenants. 
Take,  for  instance,  the  case  of  Prussia,  which  is,  perhaps, 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  examples  that  we  have  to 
quote.  In  Prussia  the  feudal  system  was  entirely  broken 
down.  In  the  rest  of  Germany  it  has  been  partially 
trenched  upon.  In  Italy  it  has  also  been  attacked,  and 
in  part  destroyed.  I  shall  venture  to  detain  you  for  a 
few  minutes  while  I  point  out  to  you  the  steps  which 
were  taken  by  the  king  of  Prussia  to  secure  safety  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  peace  of  Tilsit,  when  Prussia  had 
emerged  from  an  almost  disastrous  war.  I  can  claim 
confidently  that  a  great  and  radical  change  then  made  has 
contributed  since  in  no  small  measure  to  the  greatness 
of  Prussia  as  a  nation. 

THE   CASE   OP   PRUSSIA. 

Prussia  was  then  one  of  the  weakest  of  countries.  She 
is  now  the  arbiter  of  continental  nations.  The  king  of 
Prussia  at  the  peace  of  Tilsit,  issued  an  edict  by  the  ad- 
dress of  a  celebrated  reformer,  Stein,  for  the  regulation 
of  the  relations  between  landlord  and  tenant.  I  will  ask 
you  to  allow  me  to  trespass  upon  your  time  while  I  read 
to  you  this  very  remarkable  preamble: 

"  We,  Frederick  William,  by  the  grace  of  God,  king 
of  Prussia,  having  convinced  ourselves,  both  by  personal 
experience  in  our  own  domains  and  by  that  of  many  lords 
of  manors,  of  the  great  advantages  which  have  accrued, 
both  to  the  lord  and  to  the  peasant,  by  the  transforma- 
tion of  peasant-holdings  into  property,  and  the  commuta- 
tion of  the  rents  on  the  basis  of  a  fair  indemnity,  and 
having  consulted  in  regard  to  this  weighty  matter  expe- 
rienced farmers,  ordain  and  decree  as  follows: 

"  That  all  tenants  of  hereditary  holdings,  i.  e.,  in  which 


AND    SETTLED   THE   DIFFICULTY.  239 

the  lord  of  the  manor  is  bound  to  select  as  tenant  one  or 
other  of  the  heirs  of  the  last  tenant — whatever  the  size 
of  the  holding — shall,  by  the  present  edict,  become  the 
proprietors  of  their  holdings,  after  paying  to  the  landlord 
the  indemnity  fixed  by  this  edict." 

A  further  section  provides: 

"We  desire  that  landlords  and  tenants  should  of 
themselves  come  to  terms  of  agreement,  and  we  give 
them  two  years  from  the  date  of  this  edict  to  do  so.  If 
within  that  time  the  work  is  not  done,  the  State  will  un- 
dertake it." 

Subsequently  the  State,  upon  failure  of  lords  and 
tenants  to  come  to  an  agreement,  issued  its  bonds  or 
debentures,  bearing  4  per  cent,  interest,  to  the  lords  in 
payment  of  the  purchase  money,  and  received  from  the 
tenants  a  yearly  sum  amounting  to  5  per  cent,  of  the 
principal  amount  of  these  bonds.  These  yearly  pay- 
ments by  the  tenant  to  the  State  continued  for  41  years, 
and  by  them  in  that  time  both  principal  and  interest 
were  discharged. 

Subsequently  the  State,  upon  the  failure  of  the  land- 
lords and  the  tenants  to  come  to  terms  by  agreement  as 
provided  in  the  act,  stepped  in  and  did  the  work  itself. 
And  this  is  the  way  in  which  it  did  the  work:  It  issued 
to  the  landlords  State  bonds  bearing  4  per  cent,  interest, 
for  the  landlords'  interest  in  the  land.  That  is  to  say  the 
State  valued  the  landlord's  interest,  and  it  said  to  them 
we  cannot  give  you  money  because  we  are  in  a  bank- 
rupt condition,  but  we  will  give  you  bonds  bearing  4  per 
cent,  interest.  The  tenants  ceased  to  pay  rent  from  that 
moment  to  the  landlords,  but  instead  of  the  payment  to 
the  landlords  they  made  a  payment  amounting  to  5  per 
cent,  on  the  capital  to  the  State  through  the  ordinary  tax- 
gatherers;  and  at  the  end  of  41  years  this  payment 
ceased,  both  principal  and  interest  having  been  covered 
by  this  annual  payment  of  5  per  cent,  for  the  interest  of 
the  landlords  in  the  lands  as  valued  by  the  State.  At 
the  end  of  that  time  the  tenant  had  nothing  more  to  pay, 
and  had  his  land  for  his  own.  That  was  the  solution  of 
the  Prussian  land  question. 


24:0      THE   PKUSSIAN    TENANT   CEASED   TO    TAT    RENT. 

But  you  will  be  surprised  when  I  tell  you  that  the 
Prussian  system  of  land  tenure  was  every  way  superior  to 
ours.  One  of  the  leading  newspapers  of  Boston,  after  I 
had  discussed  this  system  of  land  tenure,  stated  that  "  it 
was  not  a  fair  comparison  to  draw,  because  the  tenants  in 
Prussia  were  serfs,  and  in  Ireland  they  are  not."  If  the 
tenants  in  Ireland  are  not  serfs,  I  don't  know  what  they 
are.  The  newspaper  was  wrong  again,  even  though  it 
was  a  leading  journal  of  "  the  Hub  of  the  Universe."  The 
class  of  persons,  tenants,  whom  this  legislation  affected, 
were  not  serfs  ;  but  they  hold  on  a  condition  of  tenure  so 
superior,  as  reg.-irds  the  tenant,  to  the  condition  of  the 
tenant  in  Ireland,  that  we  in  Ireland  would  have  gladly 
welcomed,  and  almost  now  would  gladly  welcome  the  con- 
ditions of  the  tenure  of  the  Prussian  tenant  before  this 
legislation  took  place,  in  exchange  for  the  present  system 
of  land  tenure  in  Ireland.  In  Prussia  the  landlord  could 
not  raise  his  rent  ;  the  landlord  could  not  dispossess  his 
tenant  ;  the  tenant  was  permitted  to  bequeath  his  prop- 
erty to  his  children,  or  to  whomsoever  he  pleased.  In 
Ireland  they  have  none  of  these  advantages.  Everything 
depends  upon  a  six  months'  notice. 

EXAMPLE    OP   RUSSIA. 

In  Russia  the  serfs  originally  owned  the  land,  and  they 
had  a  very  perfect  system  of  communism,  or  government 
by  villages.  The  system  of  government  by  communes  or 
villages  in  Russia  is  one  of  the  most  perfect  systems.  It 
did  not  consist  in  sharing  everybody's  property  among 
everybody  else.  This  system  was  broken  in  upon  by  the 
nobles,  and  they  made  serfs  of  the  peasants.  Alexander, 
seeing  the  great  evils  which  existed  from  this  condition 
of  serfdom,  decided  that  the  peasants  should  own  the  land 
they  tilled.  The  land  in  Russia  was  held  partly  by  nobles 
and  partly  by  serfs.  The  serfs  were  compelled  to  do  three 
days  work  in  the  week  for  the  nobles;  then  they  were 
allowed  to  till  the  land  which  they  occupied  during  the 
remaining  three  days  of  the  week,  but  they  were  at  the 
complete  mercy  of  the  nobles,  who  directed  them  as  to 
how  they  should  till  the  land,  and  held  them  in  fact  as 


PRUSSIAN   SERFS   OWNED   THE   LANDS.  241 

serfs.  Alexander  decided  that  this  state  of  serfdom  should 
oeas'e,  that  the  serfs  should  no  longer  be  compelled  to 
labor  for  the  nobles,  and  that  they  should  own  the  land 
that  they  were  in  occupation  of;  and  pay  the  landlords,  in- 
stead of  the  original  forced  service  that  they  used  to  pay 
the  landlords,  a  certain  rent  per  annum,  and  this  rent  was 
fixed  at  a  very  low  figure,  indeed,  something  like  two  or 
three  shillings  per  acre.  Alexander  also  provided  that  the 
tenants  might  purchase  at  this  rent  and  become  owners  of 
their  lands — purchase  the  rent  by  paying  the  landlords 
sixteen  times  the  yearly  amount  of  rent.  That  is  to  say, 
they  might  buy  out  the  interest  of  the  nobles  as  regards 
the  receipt  of  this  rent  by  paying  them  sixteen  years' 
rent.  They  also  provided  that  the  government  should 
advance  to  the  tenant  desirous  of  thus  purchasing,  four- 
fifths  of  the  purchase  money  required.  English  journals 
and  newspapers  are  in  the  habit  of  decrying  Russia  as  the 
home  of  every  description  of  despotism.  But  the  land 
system  of  Russia  is  now,  perhaps,  the  most  perfect  in  the 
world.  The  people  own  the  land,  and  they  till  it  in  little 
communities  or  villages.  Each  village  governs  itself; 
and,  although  we  hear  of  Russia  as  a  great  despotism,  a 
system  of  local  government  has  been  tarried  there  to  the 
most  perfect  and  complete  effect. 

We  say  to  the  English  Government,  this  Irish  landi 
question  has  been  going  on  for  a  long  while.  The  evils 
to  Ireland  and  her  people  have  been  incalculable.  They 
prevent  the  soil  from  being  properly  tilled.  Ireland  can 
produce  three  times  as  much  food  as  it  now  produces  if 
there  was  a  sensible  system  of  tenure  like  that.  I  will 
ask  the  English  Government  to  step  in,  either  as  the 
king  of  Prussia  did,  or  as  the  Czar  of  Russia  did,  and 
enable  the  tenants  to  become  owners  upon  the  same 
terms  and  conditions.  We  don't  care  which  way  you 
proceed.  You  may  either  give  your  State  obligations  to 
the  landlords,  in  termination  of  their  interest,  or  you  may 
pay  them  in  hard  cash.  That  is  a  matter  for  your  own 
consideration.  Probably  the  English  Government  would 
prefer  to  pay  the  landlords  in  hard  cash  ;  and  the  Legis- 
lature has  already  contemplated — nay,  more — sanctioned 
10 


242  THE   CROW-BAR   BRIGADE. 

the  principle  that  it  is  right  that  the  tenant  shall  own  the 
land.  The  Bright  clause  of  the  land  act  was  passed  in 
1870  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  tenants  to  become  the 
owners  of  land.  That  provided  that  the  Government  might 
advance  two-thirds  of  the  purchase  money  to  the  tenants 
who  desired  to  purchase,  but  the  radical  difference  be- 
tween these  clauses  and  the  methods  adopted  by  the 
kings  of  Prussia  and  Russia,  was  that  these  clauses  only 
contemplated  the  voluntary  sale  by  the  landlords.  In 
Prussia  and  Russia  the  landlords  were  forcibly  expro- 
priated. Of  course  it  will  take  a  long  time  to  induce  the 
Irish  landlords  to  sell,  and  we  think  we  are  entitled  to  ask 
the  State  to  come  in  and  forcibly  appropriate  the  land, 
as  was  done  in  Russia  and  Prussia. 

Now,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  don't  think  I  could  do 
better  than  to  conclude  by  reading  to  you  a  scene  which 
has  just  taken  place  in  Ireland  in  connection  with  this 
land  movement,  which  will  show  you  the  terrible  condi- 
tion of  our  people,  and  the  frightful  sufferings  they  are 
undergoing,  and  the  determined  struggle  they  are  mak- 
ing for  the  soil'  of  their  native  land. 

RESISTING    THE    PROCESS-SERVERS. 

The  actual  scene  of  this  business  was  the  village  of 
Carraroe,  which  is  on  the  coast,  about  twenty  miles  from 
the  town  of  Galway.  The  local  police  anticipating  the 
popular  movement,  occupied  the  house  before  the  arrival 
of  the  crowd,  and  thus  frustrated  their  intentions.  Mes- 
sengers were  dispatched  to  the  station  at  Spiddal,  five 
miles  distant,  asking  for  reinforcements.  These  arrived 
•  during  the  evening,  and  the  police  remained  on  the  prem- 
ises all  night.  Meanwhile  the  telegraph  wires  had  been 
put  in  operation,  and  the  next  morning  an  additional  de- 
tachment of  fifty  constables  arrived  on  the  scene.  In  the 
midst  of  this  little  army  Fenton  issued  from  the  house  to 
execute  his  legal  mission.  The  first  house  visited  was 
that  of  William  Flaherty.  Women  surrounded  the  door, 
and  as  Fenton  advanced  to  effect  service  they  clutched 
the  process  and  tore  it  to  shreds.  The  police  then 
charged  all  around  with  their  sword  bayonets,  wounding 


THE   CONSTABULARY    RESISTED.  243 

several  severely.  The  women  were  bayoneted  right  and 
left,  and  one  of  them,  Mrs.  Conneally,  sustained  such  in- 
juries that  the  last  rites  of  the  church  had  to  be  admin- 
istered to  her  by  Rev.  P.  J.  Newell,  the  Roman  Catholic 
priest  of  the  place,  who  was  an  eye-witness  of  the  scene. 
Rev.  Mr.  Newell,  it  may  be  mentioned,  had  exerted  him- 
self to  prevent  any  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  people, 
and  previous  to  the  charge  he  addressed  them  in  Irish, 
urging  them  not  to  interfere.  The  police  then  proceeded 
to  the  cabin  of  a  man  named  Conneally,  about  three  hun- 
dred yards  distant.  They  smashed  open  the  door,  which 
was  closed,  and  service  was  effected.  James  Mackie's 
house  was  next  visited.  The  women  again  surrounded 
the  door  and  endeavored  to  wrest  the  process  from  Fen- 
ton.  The  police  charged  a  second  time  indiscriminately, 
knocked  some  of  the  people  down,  and,  it  is  stated,  bay- 
oneted one  man  while  on  the  ground  unmercifully.  Up 
to  this  the  men  had  not  interfered  beyond  crowding 
round,  and  no  missiles  were  thrown  at  the  constabulary; 
but  now  sticks  and  stones  were  freely  used,  and  a  terri- 
ble melee  ensued.  The  police  became  much  excited,  not 
unnaturally,  and  at  last  fired  some  shots  over  the  heads 
of  their  assailants.  Then  the  process-server  attempted  to 
deliver  the  document.  The  women,  as  before,  snatched 
it  out  of  his  hand  and  destroyed  it.  Sub-inspector  Gib- 
bons rushed  into  the  house,  and  as  he  advanced  to  the 
hearth  Mrs.  Mackie  lifted  a  blazing  turf  and  smashed  it 
on  his  neck.  Smarting  from  the  burning,  the  officer 
rushed  back  to  the  door,  and  in  the  struggle  his  sword 
was  knocked  out  of  his  hand.  The  commanding  officer 
considered  that  the  situation  was  now  too  critical  to  act 
without  the  presence  of  a  magistrate,  whose  orders  would 
relieve  the  constables  of  the  legal  responsibility  of  a  con- 
flict with  the  peasantry.  Accordingly  the  whole  force 
was  withdrawn  and  concentrated  at  the  police  barrack  in 
the  village,  where  the  process-server  remained  for  pro- 
tection. 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  just  consider  what  was  attempt- 
ed to  be  done  there.  These  people  had  been  paying  back 
rents  for  years  and  years.  And  the  great  depression  in 


24ri  APPEAL    FOE    AMERICAN    AID 

value  of  agricultural  products,  owing  to  the  enormous 
quantity  of  beef  which  you  are  sending  over  from  this 
country,  it  has  become  an  impossibility  for  them  to  pay 
these  rents  ;  and  they  applied  to  their  landlords  for  an 
abatement  of  25  per  cent.,  which  they  brutally  and 
inhumanly  refused  to  grant.  They  said:  If  you  don't 
pay  me  I  will  evict  you  from  your  holdings,  yourselves, 
your  wives  and  your  families — all  shall  go  out.  The 
roof  shall  be  torn  from  over  your  heads.  Your  furniture 
shall  be  broken  up  and  the  walls  of  your  houses  shall  be 
levelled.  The  little  feed  that  you  have  shall  be  forcibly 
taken  from  you,  in  order  to  help  you  pay  your  rent,  if 
I  can  get  anybody  to  buy  that  feed  ;  if  I  can  not  I  shall 
burn  it  rather  than  you  shall  have  it  to  eat.  This  is  the 
prospect  before  the  people,  in  order  to  save  themselves 
and  families  from  starvation.  They  were  compelled  to 
ask  their  landlords  for  a  very  small  abatement  in  their 
rent.  You  will  agree  with  me  that  they  exhibited  a 
remarkable  degree  of  courage,  judgment  and  respect  for 
the  law,  until  the  policemen  made  the  attack  by  bayonet- 
ing the  women.  When  the  men  saw  their  wives  and 
daughters  bayoneted  in  this  savage  manner,  they  could 
not  stand  it  any  longer,  although  they  had  nothing  in 
their  hands — no  weapons  but  shilalahs — they  behaved 
with  the  courage  of  their  race  ;  because  they  threw 
themselves  on  the  constabulary  in  this  unarmed  condition, 
and  gained  a  splendid  and  gallant  victory.  No  ;  believe 
me,  the  blood  of  these  poor  women  has  not  been  shed  in 
vain  ;  and  from  that  blood,  will  spring  up  the  movement 
which  will  sweep  away  this  accursed  system. 

I  ask  you,  people  of  this  prosperous  and  wealthy 
America,  to  help  us  in  the  way  that  you  can.  A  horrible 
famine  is  attacking  this  people.  They  have  the  police 
and  all  the  armed  force  of  the  Government  in  front. 
They  have  famine  in  the  rear.  You  can  stave  off  the 
famine.  You  can  at  least  secure  their  spirit  from  being 
broken  by  that  physical  weakness  which  must  come  of 
their  hunger.  You  can  send  from  the  bountiful  crops 
that  the  Almighty  has  given  you,  plenty.  I  am  sure, 
living  in  a  free  country,  that  you  will  think  it  is  almost 


MISSTATEMENTS   REFUTED.  245 

your  duty  to  support  Ireland  at  home.  All  of  you  who 
are  Irishmen  will  remember  with  pride  that  you  caino 
from  a  country  that  has  never  forgotten  its  rights  ;  that 
on  every  field,  when  contending  against  the  armed  pow- 
er of  British  might  or  wrestling  with  the  still  more  dead- 
ly, though  silent  famine  and  pestilence,  our  countrymen 
have  shown  that  they  understand  that  they  are  inheritors 
of  a  great  and  untarnished  fame.  We  are  in  earnest  in 
our  work.  We  intend  not  to  stop  or  falter  one  inch  or  one 
iota,  and  not  to  be  turned  aside  from  our  path,  because 
we  feel  that  we  are  going  to  win  in  this  great  fight.  We 
ask  you  to  save  our  people  from  this  terrible  suffering. 
You  helped  us  in  1845,  1846  and  1847.  Public  opinion 
of  this  country  has  been  of  enormous  importance  to  us. 
It  has  concentrated  the  attention  of  the  whole  world 
upon  us.  You,  my  friends,  have  come  forward  and  help- 
ed us  generously  to-night,  and  shown  your  appreciation 
for  the  sufferings  of  our  unfortunate  people,  who  are 
going  through  with  a  heroism  that  has  never  been 
equaled.  You  have  shown  and  will  continue  to  show 
your  appreciation  of  these  sufferings  by  practical  aid 
and  sympathy." 

EMIGRATION  THE  I-ATSTDLORD's  CURE. 

A  St.  Louis  newspaper  editorially  approved  of  the 
claim  of  an  Irish  landlord  who,  in  a  published  letter,  as- 
serted "  that  the  present  is  but  a  pronounced  form  of  a  dis- 
tress which  is  never  totally  absent  from  Ireland,  and  which 
can  only  be  prevented  or  diminished  in  the  future  by  the 
withdrawal  of  the  redundant  population  to  other  coun- 
tries. The  soil  of  Ireland  has  long  been  over-worked. 
It  is  now,  in  many  parts,  almost  exhausted.  It  cannot 
support  the  population.  There  is  no  prospect  of  increas- 
ing the  manufacturing  industries  of  that  country,  and  its 
agricultural  resources  are  not  equal  to  the  demands  of 
its  people.  Hence  emigration  is  the  only  remedy." 

The  Daily  News,  of  Chicago,  in  its  issue  of  Jan.  28th, 
1880,  thus  ably  answers  these  misrepresentations  of  facts 
easy  of  demonstration:  "The  humanity  of  this  is  only 
equalled  by  the  supercillious  self-sufficiency  with  which 


246  EXPORTS  FROM  IRELAND. 

it  is  advocated.  Why  should  emigration  be  the  only  re- 
lief for  Irish  distress?  Why  should  Irish  distress  be  the 
only  distress  for  which  emigration  is  the  sovereign  pana- 
cea? Emigration  is  never  recommended  for  distress  in 
England,  Scotland,  France,  Belgium,  Russia,  Italy,  or,  in 
fact,  any  other  European  country." 

The  St.  Louis  editor  says  that  the  soil  of  Ireland  has 
long  been  overworked;  that  it  is  now  in  many  parts 
almost  exhausted;  that  it  cannot  support  the  population. 
These  statements  are  totally  and  maliciously  false.  The 
leading  products  of  Ireland  in  1858  and  1871  were: 

1858.  3871. 

Wheat,  qrs 1,746,464  705,939 

Oats,  qrs 8,953,541         7,410,814 

Barley,  qrs 802,028  965,709 

Potatoes,  tons 4,892,225         4,218,445 

Turnips,  tons 4,364,788        4,246,332 

Mangel  wurzel,  tons 464,423  761,863 

Hay,  tons 2,701,006         3,315,525 

Horses,  No 610,717  530,353 

Cattle,   No 640.201         1,566,149 

Sheep,  No 3,487,785         4,330,947 

Pigs,  No 1,402,812         1,456,961 

These  figures  show  a  decline  in  some  products,  but  an 
immense  increase  in  others. 

The  population  in  1851  was  6,553,291,  and  in  1871 
only  5,412,377.  The  value  of  the  live  stock  in  Ireland  in 
1870  was  no  less  than  $177,592,390.  A  vast  number  of 
these  cattle  are  exported  to  England.  We  have  before 
us  the  Cork  Constitution  of  January,  1880,  which  gives 
the  export  of  live  stock  to  Great  Britain  for  the  week 
ending  January  3,  at  8,760  cattle,  9,141  sheep,  11,090 
hogs,  170  horses,  and  3  asses;  a  total  of  29,166  head.  The 
total  for  the  preceding  week  was  nearly  the  sime  num- 
ber. This  would  be  an  aggregate  of  1,500,000  cattle  of 
all  descriptions  in  the  course  of  the  year,  In  1855  the 
exports  of  grain  to  Great  Britain  were  1,980,397  quarters 
of  oats  and  oat-meal,  and  170,000  quarters  of  wheat; 
214,636  oxen,  8,162  calves,  489,494  sheep,  and  254,054 
hogs;  to  foreign  countries  292  cwt.  of  bacon  and  ham, 


TI1E   LAND    IS   NOT   DETERIORATING.  24:7 

7,943  barrels  of  beef  and  pork,  17,475  cwt.  of  butter. 
Immense  quantities  of  butter,  eggs,  bacon,  hams  and 
other  products  of  the  soil  are  also  exported  to  Great  Bri- 
tain. So  that,  while  the  population  has  diminished  over 
1,000,000  since  1855,  the  exports  of  products  are  con- 
stantly increasing. 

Do  these  facts,  gleaned  from  the  records,  show  that  the 
land  is  deteriorating?  That  the  soil  is  over-worked  or 
exhausted?  That  it  cannot  support  the  population?  On 
the  contrary,  they  give  the  lie  to  all  such  statements,-and 
prove  that  it  is  some  inherent  political  or  social  cause 
which  is  at  work  to  prevent  a  just  distribution  in  the 
country  itself  of  the  profits  of  its  labor.  O'Conneil  used 
to  declare,  and  to  prove  it  by  the  statistics,  that  Ireland 
produced  enough  in  one  agricultural  season  to  support 
the  entire  population  for  five.  Its  capabilities  are  greater 
to-day  than  they  were  in  the  Great  Liberator's  time. 
But,  the  truth  is,  the  products  are  exausted,  in  order  to 
sustain  the  drain  of  absenteeism  and  the  exactions  of  the 
landlords. 

As  to  manufactures,  they  have  largely  increased  in 
the  northern  part  of  the  island,  where  Ireland's  specialty, 
linen,  is  manufactured  in  manner  and  style  nowhere  else 
excelled,  if  equaled.  But  in  ather  manufactures,  the 
keen  competition  of  England,  the  want  of  capital — one 
of  the  results  of  absenteeism — and  the  unjust  discrimi- 
nation of  Great  Britain  against  the  country  in  former 
years,  has  kept  down  nearly  all  efforts  in.  this  direction. 
But  Ireland  has  inexhaustible  mines  of  anthracite  and 
bituminous  coal,  of  iron,  copper,  lead,,  and  even  silver 
and  gold.  That  there  is  no  present  prospect  of  greatly 
developing  these  industries  is  true,  because  the  villainous 
landlord  and  absentee  systems  are  eating  out  the  vitals 
of  the  country's  industries. 

This  explains  the  mystery  and  sorrow  of  the  fact  that 
such  a  country  remains  but  half  utilized  by  the  industrial 
energies  of  its  inhabitants,  and  that  over  a  lanje  propor- 
tion of  its  surface  Ireland  yields  only  poverty  to  tens  of 
thousands  who  should  be  among  the  most  happy  and 
prosperous  people  on  the  earth.  A  climate  mild  and 


248     QUALITY  OF  THE  LAND  NOT  TO  BLAME. 

moist  from  the  influence  of  the  Atlantic,  from  the  hill 
ranges  in  every  maritime  county,  which  condense  the 
sea  vapor  into  rain,  and  from  the  humidity  due  to  peat 
bogs  occupying  a  seventh  part  of  the  superfices  of  the 
island,  is  uncongenial  for  the  ripening  of  full  harvests  of 
bread  corn;  and,  indeed,  the-  low  summer  temperature 
and  the  prevalence  of  cloud,  especially  in  the  south  and 
west,  render  the  maturing  of  wheat,  and  also  of  fine  malt- 
ing barley,  precarious.  But  these  atmospheric  condi- 
tions favor  the  growth  of  oats,  of  green  forage,  roots  and 
grasses,  and  of  natural  pasture  in  profusion.  Ireland  is 
not  formed  to  be  a  granary;  nature  makes  it  a  meadow, 
a  dairy,  and  a  stall.  In  part,  also,  it  is  a  garden  of  vege- 
tables and  fruits.  Here  is  a  country  which  should  at 
least  be  a  paradise  of  live  stock, — a  land  flowing  with 
milk,  if  not  with  honey.  If  the  profits  of  agriculture  are 
insufficient  for  the  well-being  of  the  population,  it  is  cer- 
tainly not  the  quality  of  the  soil  which  is  to  blame;  for 
no  one  acquainted  with  the  soils  of  Ireland  will  class 
them  generally  as  inferior  to  the  light  sands  and  poor 
clays  of  Flanders,  or  will  compare  their  natural  fertility 
unfavorably  with  the  arable  and  pasture  of  Denmark  or 
of  Holland. 

The  lack  of  agricultural  prosperity  cannot  be  attribut- 
able to  an  undue  pressure  of  the  Irish  population  upon 
the  limits  of  the  cultivated  land.  So  far  as  general  siver- 
age  is  concerned,  the  available  area  is  not  below  that  of 
other  countries  where  the  agriculture  is  extolled  for  its 
excellence.  While  in  England  24,500,000  out  of  22,500- 
000  acres  of  total  area  have  been  brought  under  crops 
and  grass,  in  Ireland,  15,350,000  out  of  20,750,000  acres 
are  under  management,  and  this  amounts  to  an  average 
of  two  and  three-fourths  acres  for  each  head  of  the  popu- 
lation. In  Belgium  the  quantity  of  cultivated  land  is 
only  one  acre  per  head  ;  in  Great  Britain  it  is  one  and 
one-quarter  acres;  in  Holland  one  and  one-third  acres; 
and  up  to  three  and  one-quarter  acres  per  head  in  Den- 
mark. An  excess  of  inhabitants  in  proportion  to  the  ca- 
pabilities of  the  country  for  maintaining  them  can  not  be 
said  to  distinguish  Ireland.  Judging  by  the  example  of 


COMPARED    WITH    OTHER   LANDS.  249 

Kingdoms  in  which  it  is  admitted  that  the  cultivators  of 
the  soil  thrive,  it  appears  probable  that  Ireland  might 
support  in  comfort  a  population  more  numerous  than  the 
existing  5,412,377,  who  in  parts  of  many  counties  are  on 
the  verge  of  starvation  whenever  Providence  visits  them 
with  an  unpropitious  season. 

There  is  enough  cultivated  land  in  Ireland  to  be  divis- 
ible into  holdings  averaging  twenty-nine  acres  for  each 
of  the  existing  occupiers;  and  hence  there  can  be  no  ab- 
solute necessity  why  a  more  ruinous  parcelrnent  of  occu- 
pations should  obtain  than  we  find  in  Denmark,  where 
the  holdings  average  thirty-two  acres  each,  or  in  the  small 
farm  provinces  of  Belgium,  where  they  average  little  more 
than  twenty  acres  each.  Here,  however,  a  remarkable 
inequality  exists  in  the  distribution  of  a  total  area  which, 
if  equitably  apportioned,  might  be  found  ample.  Out  of 
the  481,000  occupiers  in  Ireland  holding  more  than  a  single 
acre  each  in  the  year  1878,  there  are  207,000  holding 
above  one  and  not  exceeding  fifteen  acres,  and  of  these, 
60,000  occupy  not  more  than  one  to  five  acres  each.  The 
number  of  occupiers  with  more  than  fifteen  and  not  ex- 
ceeding thirty  acres  is  124,000.  And  with  331,000  farm- 
e;  s  holding  from  over  one  up  to  thirty  acres  each  there  re- 
main only  150,000  farmers  occupying  above  thirty  acres; 
nearly  half  of  those — namely,  66,000 — having  farms  of 
over  thirty  up  to  fifty  acres.  Farmers  of  over  fifty  up  to 
100  acres  number  51,000;  only  21,000,  or  about  4  per 
cent,  of  the  farmers  of  Ireland,  have  occupations  of  over 
100  up  to  200  acres;  and  but  11,000  farmers  more  than  200 
acres.  Probably  about  half  of  all  the  cultivated  land  is 
in  the  hands  of  small  occupiers  of  from  over  one  to  not 
more  than  fifty  acres  each;  while  the  agricultural  condi- 
tion of  a  third  of  Ireland  is  revealed  and  tested  by  the 
condition  of  the  little  occupations  of  from  over  one  to  not 
more  than  thirty  acres  each.  Grave  misappreciation  of 
the  real  state  of  Irish  husbandry  would  arise  from  taking 
it  to  be  represented  mainly  by  the  classes  of  farms 
which  English  tenants  would  regard  as  large  or  medium- 
sized,  or  worthy  of  the  name  of  farms  at  all;  yet  such 
are  those  commonly  visited  for  the  purpose  of  acquiring 


250  SMALL    FARMS   EECOMMENDED. 

information  as  to  the  character  and  position  of  Irish  hus- 
bandry. 

The  Irish  land  agitation  has  been  confined  to  the 
Western  and  Southern  districts  of  Ireland,  and  resistance 
to  the  service  of  ejectment  processes  of  the  merciless 
landlords,  and  subsequent  evictions  to  the  Connemara 
regions  in  the  counties  of  Mayo  and  Gal  way.  The  agita- 
tion has,  however,  extended  into  the  Ulster  counties  of 
the  North,  where  it  is  sure  to  be  conducted  in  a  more 
systematic,  independent,  and  unyielding  manner  than 
heretofore.  The  Protestant  farmers  of  Armagh  and 
Antrim  are  combining  to  resist  eviction  from  their  farms, 
and  it  is  certain  that  if  wise  counsels  prevail  among  the 
landlords  they  will  not  be  in  haste  to  enforce  their  de- 
mands. The  bailiffs,  process-servers,  and  policemen,  who 
form  the  "crowbar  brigade,"  will  find  it  no  easy  task  to 
evict  the  sturdy  Presbyterian  yeomen  of  Ulster.  There 
they  will  have  no  unarmed,  hungry,  spirit-broken 
tenantry  to  contend  with.  The  descendants  of  the  de- 
fenders of  Derry,  and  of  those  who  kicked  the  crown  of  the 
cowardly,  faithless,  and  bigoted  Stuarts  into  ihe  Boyne, 
will  not  trust  to  Providence  or  to  women  to  defend  their 
homes. 

It  may  be  that  the  landlords,  blinded  by  their  own 
cupidity,  will  press  their  unrighteous  claims,  and  that  the 
Tory  Government,  lost  in  the  mazes  of  their  foreign  policy, 
will  be  foolish  enough  to  back  them  up.  What  the  conse- 
quences may  be  in  such  a  case,  it  is  hard  to  say,  but  the  ac 
tion  of  theDungannon  Convention  of  1781,  and  of  the  vol- 
unteers of '82,  who  hung  tablets  from  their  gun  barrels  bear- 
ing the  motto  "Free  Trade  or ,"  is  not  a  matter 

of  so  remote  date  that  one  cannot  predict  that  the  Pro- 
testant Ulster  farmers  will  resist  to  the  bitter  end. 
These  men  are  of  a  race  of  whom  our  own  historian,  Ban- 
croft, wrote:  "  Their  training  had  kept  the  spirit  of  lib- 
erty and  the  readiness  to  resist  unjust  government  fresh 
in  their  hearts."  "  Their  experience  and  their  religion 
alike  bade  them  to  meet  oppression  with  resistance." 
Unlike  the  farmers  of  thq  South  and  West,  the  Ulster 
farmers  have  the  means  of  resistance,  for,  esteeming  it 


THE  NORTHERN  FARMERS.  251 

the  first  privilege  of  freemen  "to  have  and  bear  arms," 
they  have  persistently  and  successfully  resisted  all  at- 
tempts of  the  English  government  to  disarm  them.  In 
the  various,  "arms"  and  "  insurrection  acts  passed  by  the 
British  parliament,  the  inhabitants  of  the  northern  coun- 
ties have  been  and  are  exempt  from  the  operation  of  the 
disarming  statutes.  That  the  landlords  respect  a  deter- 
mined and  firm  attitude,  if  they  do  not  fear  it,  may  be 
gathered  from  the  fact  that  in  Tipperary  and  We^tmeath, 
where  the  "  wild  justice  of  revenge  "  doctrine  prevails, 
there  have  been  scarcely  any  evictions  for  a  dozen  years. 
It  is  hardly  possible,  then,  that  there  will  be  any  serious 
attempt  to  throw  the  Ulster  tenants  on  the  highways; 
and,  did  the  Catholic  Irish  exhibit  the  same  spirit  of  de- 
termination and  union,  there  is  every  reason  to  think  that 
heart-rending  scenes  would  not  be  so  numerous  as  they 
seem  to  be  in  the  Celtic  districts  of  Ireland. 

The  legislation  of  recent  years,  particularly  the  legis- 
lation of  Mr.  Gladstone's  Administration,  has  done  much 
to  obliterate  all  sectional,  race,  and  religious  animosities 
in  Ireland,  and  a  spirit  of  mutual  toleration  has  begun  to 
prevail  between  the  Catholics  and  Protestants,  which  is  a 
good  augury  for  the  future  of  that  unhappy,  plundered, 
and  oppressed  country.  The  community  of  interests  and 
better  acquaintance  with  each  other  which  will  result  from 
united  political  action,  will  do  much  to  extend  this  spirit. 

So  it  is  devoutly  to  be  wished  that  the  time  is  not  far 
distant  when  Ireland  may  be  a  united  people,  whom  it 
will  not  be  safe  for  a  Tory  Government  or  rack-renting 
landlords  to  oppress  and  tread  under  foot. 

The  advent  of  Mr.  Gladstone  to  power,  which  appears 
likely  to  follow  the  next  election  in  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,  will  be  the  inauguration  of  a  series  of  measures 
which  will  realize  Peel's  policy  of  "  estalilishirg  between 
England  and  Ireland  complete  equality  in  all  civil, 
municipal,  and  political  rights,  so  that  no  person  viewing 
Ireland  with  perfectly  disinterested  eyes  should  be  en- 
abled to  say  a  different  law  is  enacted  in  Ireland,  and,  on 
account  of  some  jealousy  or  suspicion,  Ireland  has  cur- 
tailed or  mutilated  rights."  When  such  shall  be  the  case, 


252  THE    SPIRIT    OF   THE   NORTH. 

and  when  there  has  been  effected  a  complete  and  radical 
change  in  the  system  of  land  tenure  and  ownership,  there 
will  be  no  need  for  the  Irish  people  to  be  periodical 
mendicants,  and  their  country  the  scene  of  misery, 
squalor,  and  anarchy.  The  determined  attitude  already 
assumed  by  the  Presbyterian  tenantry  cannot  but  hasten 
these  good  results.  Men  of  their  race  and  blood,  accord- 
ing to  Bancroft  and  Froude,  were  the  first  to  declare  for 
the  separation  of  the  American  Colonies  from  the 
"  Mother  Country."  May  not  the  present  position  of 
these  men  indicate  and  betoken  the  dawn  of  a  brighter 
era  of  comparative  independence  for  themselves  and 
their  less  determined  countrvmen? 


BY  COUNTIES,  CITIES,  BOROUGHS  AND  TOWNS;  SHOWING 
THEIR  LOCATION,  LENGTH,  BREADTH,  AREA  IN  ACRES, 
CULTIVATED  AND  UNCULTIVATED  LANDS,  POPULATION, 
GOVERNMENT,  MINERAL  RESOURCES  AND  PRODUCTIONS, 
AGRICULTURAL  PRODUCE,  MANUFACTURES,  VALUE  OF 
PROPERTY,  ETC.,  ETC. 

ANTRIM  COUNTY. 

ANTRIM,  a  maritime  county  of  Ulster.  Boundaries:  N. 
the  Atlantic;  E.  the  northern  channel;  S.  Down;  W. 
Lough  Neagh  and  Londonderry.  Length,  N.  and  S.,  50 
miles;  breadth,  E.  and  W.,  80S-  miles;  comprising  an 
area  of  762,079  acres,  of  which  631,050  are  arable,  73,065 
uncultivated,  6,717  plantation,  1,'908  in  towns,  and  52,248 
under  water;  off  the  north  coast  are  Rathlin  and  Ragherry 
islands  and  the  Skerries.  On  the  Maiden  Rocks,  off  Larne 
Bay  are  two  light-houses,  showing  two  fixed  lights;  the 
principal  bays  are  Bel  fast  Lough  and 1  Lough  Larne;  the  sub- 
soil is  basalt  and  trap,  forming  the  Giant's  Causeway; on 
the  N.  coast,  clay,  slate  and  limestone;  there  is  also  coal 
at  Ballycastle;  there  is  also  salt  mines  at  Duncrue,  Car- 
rickfergus,  the  produce  of  which  is  of  superior  quality. 
Large  beds  of  iron-ore  have  recently  been  discovered  in 
the  hill  region  extending  from  Larne  to  Cushendall,  which 
are  likely  to  prove  of  great  importance.  The  ore  is  shipped 
from  Larne,  Glenarm  and  Cam  Lough  and  Red  Bay.  One- 
third  of  the  county  is  mountain,  not  rising  more  than 
1,000  feet  above  sea  level,  and  declining  from  the  sea 
i(253) 


254:  GAZETTEER    OF    IRELAND. 

coast  towards  Lough  Neagh  in  the  S.  "W.;  the  river  Bann 
forms  the  W.,  arid  the  Lagan  forms  the  S.  boundary  of 
the  county.  The  Lagan  canal  connects  Lough  Neagh 
\vithBelfastLough.  Bogs  are  large  and  numerous.  The 
staple  commodity  of  this  county  is  the  spinning  of  linen  and 
cotton  yarns,  and  linen  and  cotton  weaving.  The  county 
is  divided  into  14  baronies,  78  parishes,  and  1,741  town 
lands,  having  a  population  in  1871  of  404,015,  or  85,030 
families,  inhabiting  73,931  houses,  also  3,220  houses  un- 
inhabited and  307  building;  it  is  in  the  Diocese  of  Con- 
nor. The  principal  towns  are  the  parliamentary  bor- 
ough of  Belfast,  including  the  suburb  of  Ballymacarrett; 
population  of  1871,  174,412;  the  county  of  the  town  and 
parliamentary  borough  of  Carrickfergus,  9,397  ;  parlia- 
mentary borough  of  Lisbon  has  a  population  in  the 
county  of  8,302,  and  the  remaining  inhabitants,  1,024,  are 
in  Down  county. 

The  county  returns  6  members  to  Parliament;  2  for 
the  county  at  large;  constituency  10,888,  with  21  poll- 
ing places;  2  for  Belfast  borough,  constituency  18,963; 
and  for  each  of  the  boroughs  of  Carrickfergus  and  Lis- 
bon, 1  each;  constituencies,  1,351  and  611.  The  bar- 
onies are:  Antrim  Lower,  Antrim  Upper,  Belfast  Low- 
er, Belfast  Upper,  Corry,  Dunluce  Lower,  Dunluce  Up- 
per, Glenarm  Lower,  and  Upper  Kilconway,  Massereene, 
Lower,  Massereene  Upper,  Toome  Upper,  Toome  Lower. 
The  towns  are:  Ballymena,  Larne,  Legoniel,  Ballymoney, 
Antrim,  Bally  castle,  White  Abbey,  Portrush,  Whitehouse, 
Ballyclare,  Bushmills,  Glenarm,  Ahoghill,  Greencastle, 
Broughshane,  Randalstown,  Portgtenone,  being  in  Co. 
Derry,  Cornlough,  Dunmurry. 

See  Belfast  under  Boroughs  and  Cities. 


ARMAGH  COUNTY. 

ARMAGH,  is  in  Ulster.  Boundaries:  N.  Lough  Neagh ;  E. 
Down;  S.  Louth;  W.  Monaghan  and  Tyrone.  Length,  N. 
and  S.  32  miles;  breadth,  E.  and  W.  20  miles,  comprising 
an  area  of  328,086  acres,  of  which  S 65, 243  are  arable,  35,1 1 7 
uncultivated,  8,996  plantation,  778  towns  and  17,942 


GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND.  255 

under  water.  The  surface  is  hilly,  rising  into  mountains 
in  the  S.  W.,  where  the  highest  point  of  Slieve  Gullion  is 
1,893  feet  above  the  sea;  the  Newry  Canal  skirts  the 
county  on  the  E.;  the  Ulster  R.  R.  is  extended  from  Bel- 
fast to  Monaghan.  The  soil  is  fertile  with  much  bog. 
Combined  with  agriculture  is  a  weaving  of  cotton  and 
linen.  But  the  latter  has  long  been  the  staple  manu- 
facture. The  county  is  divided  into  8  Baronies:  Armagh, 
L.  Fews,  U.  Fews,  O'Neiland,  E.  O'Neiland,  E.  &  W. 
Orier,  U.  Orier,  L.  &  U.  and  Tiranny.  It  has  28  parishes 
and  970  town  lands;  a  population  in  1871  of  179,260  or 
36,247  families  inhabiting  34,429  houses,  also  1,583  unin- 
habited, and  32  building.  It  is  mostly  in  Armagh  Archdi- 
ocese; the  principal  towns  are  the  county  towns,  city,  and 
Parliamentary  borough  of  Armagh,  population  in  1871, 
8,946,  and  a  part  of  the  Parliamentary  borough  of  Newry, 
having  a  population  of  5,321,  and  remaining  proportion 
with  8,837  inhabitants,  is  in  County  Down.  The  county- 
returns  three  members  to  Parliament,  two  for  the  county 
at  large,  constituency  7,156,  with  50  polling  places,  and 
one  for  Armagh  City,  constituency  584. 

THE  TOWNS  ABE  —  Lurgan  Portadown,  Bessbrook, 
Keady,  Tanderagee,  Markethill,  Newtown  Hamilton, 
Darkley,  Richhill,  Crossmaglen. 

See  Armagh  under  Boroughs  and  Cities. 

CARLOW  COUNTY. 

CARLOW,  an  inland  county  in  Leinster.  Boundaries:  N. 
Kildare  and  Wicklow;  E.  Wicklow  and  Wexford;  S. 
Wexford;  W.  Kilkenny  and  Queens.  Length  N.  and  S. 
29  miles;  breadth  E.  and  W.  20£  miles,  comprising  an 
area  of  221,343  acres,  of  which  195,831  are  arable,  21,302 
uncultivated,  3,075  in  plantation,  and  505  under  water. 
The  surface  is  generally  level  except  the  baronies  which 
adjoin  Wicklow,  and  which  partake  of  its  hilly  character. 
On  the  western  side  of  the  river  Barrow,  the  Colliery 
range  extends  from  N.  to  S.  through  the  barony  of 
Idrone  W.,  some  of  the  hills  rising  to  a  height  of  about 
J,000  feet  above  the  sea,  which,  being  in  some  places 


256  GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND. 

wooded  and  cultivated  to  the  top,  form  a  beautiful  land- 
scape. On  the  eastern  side  a  succession  of  fertile  table 
land  extends  to  Borris,  and  on  the  S.  E.  is  Mount  Leinster, 
attaining  a  height  of  2,604  feet.  The  Slaney  flows  through 
the  county,  as  also  the  Barrow,  which  skirts  it  on  the  west. 
The  northern  part  separating  it  from  the  Queen's  County, 
the  middle  from  its  own  barony  Idrone  W.,  and  the 
southern  part  from  the  county  of  Kilkenny.  The  staple 
trade  is  in  corn,  flour,  meal,  butter  and  provisions.  The 
county  is  divided  into  7  baronies,  Carlow,  Forth,  E.  Idrone, 
W.  Idrone,  Rathvilly,  L.  St.  Mullins,  U.  St.  Mullins,  and 
into  35  parishes,  12  parts  of  parishes,  59?  town  lands,  hav- 
ing a  population  of  51,650  or  10,355  families  ;  inhabiting 
9,701  houses,  also  226  uninhabited,  and  29  building. 
The  county  is  in  Leighlin  Diocese.  The  principal  town 
is  the  county  town,  Parliamentary  borough  of  Carlow, 
part  of  which  is  called  Craigue,  is  in  the  Queen's  county, 
population,  7,842.  The  county  returns  three  members  to 
Parliament — two  for  the  County  at  Large,  Constituency 
2,213,  with  nine  polling  places,  and  one  for  Carlow  bor- 
ough, Constituency  298. 

THE  TOWNS  are  Bagnalstown,  Tullow,  Leighlinbridge, 
Haeketstown,  Borris. 

See  Carlow  under  Boroughs  and  Cities. 

CAVAN  COUNTY. 

AN"  inland  County  in  Ulster.  Boundaries:  N.  Ferma- 
nagh and  Monaghan ;  E.  Monaghan  and  Meath ;  S.  Meath 
and  Westmeath  and  Longford;  W.  Longford  and  Leitrirn. 
Length  S.  E.  and  N.  W.  51  miles;  breadth  N.  and  S.  28 
miles,  comprising  477,360  acres,  of  which  375,473  are 
arable,  71,918  uncultivated,  7,325  plantation,  502  in 
towns,  22,142  under  water.  The  suri'ace  is  undulating, 
with  mountainous  ranges  in  the  N.  There  are  indica- 
tions of  coal,  iron,  copper  and  lead,  and  numerous 
mineral  springs,  of  which  the  Swanlinbar  is  the  most 
celebrated.  The  soil  is  light  and  pure,  except  along  in 
the  courses  of  the  rivers.  Lakes  are  numerous,  many 
highly  picturesque.  The  occupations  are  chiefly  agricul- 


GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND.  257 

tural.  The  linen  trade  was  carried  on  here  extensively, 
and  there  are  still  many  bleach-greens.  The  country  is 
divided  into  18  Baronies  r.Castlerahan,  Clonkee,  Clan- 
inahon,  Longhtee  U.,  Longhtee  L.,  Tullygarvey,  Tullyhaw 
U.  Tullyhunco  L.,  and  contains  36  parishes  and  1,980 
town  lands,  with  a  population  of -140,735,  or  27,267 
families,  inhabiting  26,364  houses,  also  535  uninhabited, 
and  30  building.  It  is  chiefly  in  Kilmore  Diocese.  The 
county  returns  2  members  to  Parliament,  the  Constitu- 
ency 6,276,  with  18  polling  places. 

TOWNS  ARE — Cootehill,  Belturbct,  Bailieborough, 
Kingscourt,  Virginia,  Ballyjamesduff,  Arvagh,  Killeshan- 
dra,  Bellanagh. 

CLARE    COUNTY. 

CLARE,  a  maritime  county  in  Munster  province. 
Boundaries;  N.  Galway  and  Galway  Bay;  E.  and  S.  the 
Shannon,  which  separates  it  from  Tipperary,  Limerick, 
and  Kerry,  W.  the  Atlantic.  Length  N.  E.  and  S.  W.  67| 
miles,  breadth  N.  W.  and  S.  E.  38  miles;  area  827,994 
acres,  of  which  151,035  are  under  tillage,  469,446  in 
pasture,  7,34-0  plantation,  137,224  waste,  bog,  mountain, 
etc.,  and  67,920  under  water.  The  coast  is  generally 
rocky,  and  in  some  places  bold,  precipitous  cliffs,  it  is 
indented  with  several  bays,  the  principal  of  which  are 
Bally  vaughan,  Liscannon  and  Malbay;  there  are  also 
Doonbeg,  Ballord,  Farrahy,  Moorebay  and  Rossbay,  and 
in  the  estuary  of  the  Shannon  Rinevella,  Kilbaha, 
Carrigaholt,  Poulnasherry  and  Clonderlaw  Bay.  Kilrush 
Creek  and  the  estuary  of  the  Fergus,  which  is  the  only 
large  river  off  the  coast;  in  the  Atlantic  -is  Mutton 
Island;  and  in  the  Shannon  Scattery  Hog  Island.  Im- 
mense oyster  beds  abound  in  Ballyvaughan  and  along 
the  shores  of  Burren.  The  salmon  fishery  is  also  ex- 
tensively carried  on  in  Clonderlaw  Bay,  in  the  rivers 
Shannon  and  Fergus  and  at  Dunbeg.  The  diversified 
mountains  in  the  N.  E.  and  in  the  E.  and  in  the  N.  W. 
and  W.,  the  centre  an  undulating  plain;  the  soil  varying 
from  light  limestone  pasture  in  the  N.  to  deep,  rich  loam 
17 


258  GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND. 

along  the  Shannon  in  the  S.  The  W.,  which  is  a  portion 
of  Munster,  is  cold  and  wetland,  interspersed  with  bog. 
Limestone  occupies  all  the  Northern  and  central  parts  of 
the  country,  but  there  are  valuable  lead  mines  worked 
at  Ballyvirgin,  Rathclooney,  Crow  Hill  and  Carrahan. 
At  Killaloe  and  Broadford  are  excellent  slate  quarries. 
The  produce  is  almost  wholly  agricultural.  The  chief 
trade  is  corn  and  provisions,  and  some  of  the  best  sheep 
and  cattle  are  reared  in  the  excellent  pasturage  of  this 
county.  Freize  hosiery  are  manufactured  for  home  use. 
The  imports  are  principally  corn  and  timber. 

The  country  is  divided  into  11  Baronies:  L.  Bunratty, 
U.  Bunratty,  Burren,  Clonderlaw,  Corcomroc,  Ibrickan, 
Inchiquin  Islands,  Moyarta,  L.  Tulley,  U.  Tulley,  80 
parishes  and  2193  town  lands,  with  a  population  of  147,- 
364  or  27,636  families,  inhabiting  26,069  houses,  also  712 
uninhabited  and  53  building.  It  includes  the  diocese 
of  Kilfenora,  the  greater  part  of  Killaloe  and  a  small 
portion  of  Limerick.  The  principal  towns  are  the 
county  town  and  Parliamentary  borough  of  Ennis;  pop- 
ulation 6503.  The  county  returns  3  members  to  Parlia- 
ment, 2  for  the  county  at  large,  constituency  5432,  with 
20  polling  places,  and  one  for  the  burrough  of  Ennis, 
constituency  242. 

TOWNS  are  Kilrush,  Kilkee,  Killaloe,  Ennistymon,  Mil- 
town,  Malbay,  Clare,  Tulla,  Newmarket-on-Fergus,  Sea- 
riff,  Corofin,  Killadysert,  Sixmilebridge. 

CORK  COUNTY. 

CORK,  a  maritime  county  in  Munster  province;  the  larg- 
est1 of  Ireland,  both  in  extent  of  surface  and  of  arable 
land.  Boundaries:  N.,  Limerick;  E.,  Tipperary  and 
Waterford;  S.  the  Atlantic  ocean;  W.  Kerry.  Greatest 
length,  E.  and  W.  110  miles,  greatest  breadth  N.  and  S. 
70  miles;  comprising  an  area  of  1,849,686  acres,  of  which 
470,926  are  under  tillage,  1,000,735  in  pasture,  31,744  in 
plantations,  6000  in  towns,  331,882  waste  bog,  mountain, 
etc.,  and  14,369  under  water.  The  coast  is  indented  with 
numerous  bays,  the  principal  of  which  are  Baritry,  Dun- 


GAZETTEER   OP   IRELAND.  259 

raanus,  Cloghnakilty,  Kinsale,  Cork  Harbour  and  Youghal. 
Off  the  coast  are  the  islands  of  Cape  Clear  (population 
1052)  Whiddy,  and  several  smaller.  The  west  part  of  the 
county  is  mountainous,  the  north  and  east  extremely 
fertile.  The  mineral  productions  are  chiefly  copper, 
the  mines  of  which  at  Allahies,  employ  from  1500  to 
2000  hands:  coal,  limestone,  fullers-earth  and  brick  clay. 
Throughout  the  whole  county  there  is  a  great  diversity 
of  soil,  climate  and  scenery.  The  county  is  divided  into 
East  and  West  Ridings  for  the  purpose  of  holding 
general  sessions  of  the  peace  ;  the  East  Riding  has  been 
sub-divided  into  3  districts  for  quarter  sessions  purposes, 
and  the  West  Riding  into  2  divisions.  There  are  in  the 
county,  including  the  county  of  the  city  of  Cork,  23 
baronies:  East  Riding,  Barretts,  Barrymore,  Condons  and 
Clangibbon,  Cork,  Du  Hallow,  Fermoy,  Imokilly,  Kerry- 
currihy,  Kinalea,  Kinnatalloon,  Kinsale,  Muskerry  East, 
part  of  Orrery  and  Kilmore.  West  Riding :  Bantry, 
Bear,  Carberry  East,  E.  D.,  Carberry  East,  W.  D.,  Car- 
berry  West,  E.  D.,  Carberry  West,  W.  D.  Courcey, 
Ibane  and  Barryroe,  Kinalmeaky,  Muskerry  East,  part  of, 
and  Muskerry  West.  There  are  251  parishes,  and  5561 
town  lands,  with  a  total  population  of  517,076  persons, 
or  97,903  families,  inhabiting  84,789  houses,  also  3094 
uninhabited,  and  159  building.  It  comprises  the  dioceses 
of  Cork,  Cloyne,  Ross,  and  a  small  part  of  Ardfert.  The 
principal  towns  of  the  East  Riding  are  Cork  city  and 
Parliamentary  borough,  population  100,518  ;  the  Par- 
liamentary boroughs  "of  Kinsale,  7050,  Youghal,  6081, 
and  Mallow  4165.  The  county  returns  8  members  to 
Parliament ;  2  for  the  county  at  large,  constituency, 
15,044,  with  55  polling  places,  34  being  the  East  Riding 
and  21  in  the  West  ;  2  lor  Cork  city,  constituency  402, 
247,  199  and  257.  The  other  towns  in  East  Riding  are 
Queenstown,  Fermoy,  Middleton,  Mitchelstown,  Charle- 
ville,  Passage  West,  Kanturk,  Buttevant,  Doneraile, 
Cloyne,  Ballintemple,  Whitegate,  Castletownroche,  Doug- 
lass, Monkstown,  Carrigtushill,  Glanworth,  Kilworth, 
Blackrock  Ballin,  Collig.  West  Riding  are  Skibbereen, 
Clonakilty,  Bantry,  Macroom,  Dunmanway,  Millstreet, 
Castletown,  Berehaven,  Rosscarberry,  Ballydehob,  Skull. 


260  GAZETTEER  OF  IRELAND. 


DONEGAL  COUNTY. 

DOXEGAL,  a  maritime  county  in  Ulster  province* 
Boundaries:  N.  the  Atlantic  Ocean;  E.  Lough  Foyle; 
Londonderry  and  Tyrone;  S.  Tyrone,  Fermanagh  and  Lein- 
trim;  W.  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  Greatest  length,  N.  E. 
and  S.  W.,  85  miles;  greatest  breadth,  S.  E,  and  N.W., 
41  miles,  comprising  an  area  of  1,197,154  acres,  of  which 
247,281  are  under  tillage,  411,966  in  pasture,  9,308  in 
plantations,  505,719  waste,  bog,  mountains,  etc.,  and  22,- 
860  under  water.  The  coast  is  indented  by  numerous 
bays,  of  which  the  principal  are  Lough  Swilly,  Lough 
Foyle,  Mulroy,  Sheephaven,  Teelin,  Killybegs,  Inver  and 
Donegal.  The  islands  are  numerous;  17  are  inhabited; 
the  principal  are  N.  Arran,  containing  4,355  acres,  popu- 
lation 1,220,  Innistrahul  and  Tory;  there  are  light-houses 
on  N.  Arran,  Innistrahul,  Tory  Island,  at  Tan  net  point, 
W.  of  Lough  Swilly,  Rathlin,  Obeirne's  Island,  N.  W. 
side  of  the  entrance  to  the  bay  of  Donegal,  and  at  St. 
John's  Point,  Killybegs.  The  surface  is  mountainous 
and  boggy.  The  lakes  are  numerous,  but  small;  the  most 
remarkable  is  Lough  Dearg,  3,214  acres,  having  in  it  St. 
Patrick's  Purgatory,  a  celebrated  place  of  pilgrimage.  Riv- 
ers are  numerous  but  small.  The  sub-soil  ischiefly  granite, 
mica-slate  and  limestone.  The  climate  is  moist;  potatoes, 
oats  and  flax  are  the  chief  crops  ;  spade  husbandry  is 
practiced  along  the  west  coast.  The  occupations  are 
chiefly  agricultural ;  the  linen  manufacture  is  now  reviv- 
ing, and  weaving  is  extensively  carried  on,  especially  in 
the  town  and  neighborhood  of  Raphoe;  that  of  woolen 
stockings  is  increasing  and  much  employment  is  afforded 
to  the  otherwise  unemployed  female  population  by  the 
worked-muslin  trade;  the  inhabitants  near  the  coast  are 
much  occupied  in  the  fisheries,  and  the  making  of  kelp 
from  seaweed,  an  article  which  is  largely  exported  to  Scot- 
land. The  Finn  Valley  Railway  lines  from  Strabane  to 
Stranorlar,  from  Deny  to  Buncrana  and  from  Enniskil- 
len  to  Bundoran,  are  in  operation.  The  county  is  divided 
into  six  Baronies,viz:  Banagh  Boylagh,  Inishowen  E.,  Inis- 
howen  W.,  Kilmacrenan,  Raphoe,  Tirhugh.  There  are 


GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND.  261 

51  parishes  and  2,027  town  lands,  with  a  population  of 
218,334  persons,  or  41,944  families,  inhabiting  40,854 
houses;  also  1,393  uninhabited  and  89  building.  It  con- 
tains Raphoe  diocese,  and  parts  of  those  of  berry  and 
Clogher.  Buncrana,  Rathmelton,  Donegal  and  Killybegs, 
which  are  seaports,  carry  on  a  considerable  trade.  The 
county  returns  two  members  to  Parliament,  constituency 
4,612,  with  27  polling  places.  The  towns  are  Ballyshan- 
non,  Letterkenny,  Donegal,  Moville,  Rathmelton,  Rap- 
hoe,  Ballybofey,  Buncrana,  Bundoran,  Carndonogh,  Dun- 
fanaghy,  Killybegs,  Lifford,  Glenties,  Ardara,  Pettigoe. 

DOWN  COUNTY. 

DOWN,  a  maritime  county  in  Ulster  province.  Boun- 
daries: N.  Antrim  and  Carrickfergus  Bay;  E.  and  W.  the 
Irish  Sea;  W.  Armagh.  Length  N.  E.  and  S.  W.  51 
miles;  breadth  N.  W.  and  S.  E.  38  miles,  comprising  an 
area  of  612,409  acres,  of  which  339,541  are  under  tillage, 
187,604  in  pasture,  12,027  in  plantations,  70,296  waste, 
bog,  mountain,  &c.,  and  3,004  under  water.  On  the  coast 
are,  Carrickfergus  Bay,  Strangford  Lough  or  Lough 
Cone,  Killough,  Dundrurn  and  Carlingford  Bays;  and  at  a 
short  distance  from  it  are  the  Copeland  Islands,  on  the 
lesser  of  which  is  a  lighthouse  showing  a  fixed  light;  oa 
the  South  Rock,  off  the  Ardes  with  a  light  revolving  every 
1£  minutes;  at  Ardglass  Harbor,  and  one  revolving  light 
at  St.  John's  Point.  The  Harbor  of  Donaghadee  has 
been  improved,  and  has  a  depth  of  10  feet  at  low  spring 
tides.  There  is  a  fixed  light  on  the  S.  E.  pier  visible  for 
12  miles,  red  to  seaward  and  white  towards  the  harbor 
and  entrance  to  Belfast  Bay.  The  surface  is  hilly,  rising 
into  mountains  in  the  south;  the  highest,  Slieve-Donard, 
being  2,809  above  high-sea  level.  The  river  Lagan  skirts 
the  county  on  the  N.  and  the  Bann  on  the  W.  The  sub- 
soil is  clay,  slate  and  some  limestone  with  granite  in  the 
S.  The  soil  is  of  medium  quality;  the  chief  crops  pota- 
toes, barley,  oats  and  flax.  Linen  is  the  staple  manufac- 
ture. The  county  is  divided  into  10  baronies.  Ards 
Lower,  Ards  Upper,  Castlereagh  Lower,  Castlereagh  Up- 


262  GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND. 

per,  Dufferin,  Iveagh  Lower,  Iveagh  Upper,  Lower  and 
Upper  Part,  Upper  Part,  Kinelearty,  Lecale  Lower, 
Lecale  Upper,  Lordship  of  Newry,  Mourne,  and  contains 
70  parishes  and  1,286  town  lands,  having  a  population  of 
293,449  persons  or  61,464  families,  inhabiting  58,343 
houses;  also  3,405  uninhabited,  and  114  building. 

It  is  in  the  Dioceses  of  Down  and  Dromore,  with  a  small 
portion  in  that  of  Connor.  The  principal  towns  are  the 
County  town  and  Parliamentary  borough  of  Down- 
patrick,  population  of  4,155.  The  portion  of  the  bor- 
rough  of  Belfast,  in  this  county,  contains  a  population  of 
16,155  ;  the  remaining  population,  158,257  is  in  Antrim 
county.  The  part  of  the.  Parliamentary  borough  of  Lis- 
burn,  in  this  county,  has  a  population  of  1,024,  the  re- 
mainder, 8,302  is  in  Antrim  county.  The  Parliamentary 
borough  of  Newry  has  a  total  population  of  14,213,  of 
which  8,837  is  in.  this  county  and  the  remainder  in  Ar- 
magh county.  The  county  returns  four  members  to  parlia- 
ment; two  for  the  county  at  large,  constituency,  12,705, 
with  20  polling  places;  one  for  Downpatrick,  constituency, 
281  ;  one  for  Newry,  constituency,  1,086. 

TOWNS  :  Newtownards,  Banbridge,  Holywood,  Gil- 
ford, Bangor,  Dromore,  Donaghadee,  Comber,  Porta ferry, 
Rathfryland,  Warrenpoint,  Killyleagh,  Kilkeel,  Ballina- 
hinch,  Tullynery,  Saintfield,  Hillsborough,  Grey  Abbey, 
Newcastle,  Castlewellan,  Killough,  Ballywalter,  Crossgar, 
"Waringstown,  Moira,  Rosstrevor,  Kircubbin,  Ardglass, 
Seapatrick,  Annsborough,  Carrovvdore. 

DUBLIN  COUNTY. 

DUBLIN,  a  maritime  county  in  Leinster  province. 
Boundaries:  N.  Meath;  E.  the  Irish  Sea;  SWicklow;  W. 
Kildare  and  Meath.  Length  N.  and  S.  32  miles;  breadth 
E.  and  W.  18  miles;  comprising  an  area  of  226,895  acres, 
of  which  100,236  are  under  tillage,  91,503  in  pasture, 
4,716  in  plantations,  30,440  waste,  bog,  mountain,  etc., 
and  998  water,  and  1,820  under  towns,  exclusive  of  Dub- 
lin City.  Along  the  cast  are  the  Bays  of  Dublin, 
Killiney,  Malahide,  Rogerstown,  and  Lough  Shinny, 


GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND.  263 

and  the  artificial  harbours  of  Kingstown,  Howth,  Lam- 
bay,  and  Balbriggan;  and  close  to  it  the  Island  of  Lam- 
bay,  and  the  islets  of  Red  Island,  Colt  Island,  St.  Pat- 
rick's Island,  Shinnick's  Island,  Ireland's  Eye,  and  Dalk- 
ey;  off  the  S.  coast  is  the  Kish  Bank  light  ship,  showing 
three  fixed  lights  ;  and  in  Dublin  harbour  are  fixed 
lights  on  the  Poolbeg  or  S.  Wall,  Baily  of  Howth,  Howth 
Harbour,  Balbriggan  and  the  North  Wall,  and  at  Kings- 
town a  fixed  light  and  a  revolving  light,  the  former  on 
the  West  Pier,  the  latter  on  the  East  Pier,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  harbour,  in  which  is  also  a  short  additional  pier 
and  railway  for  the  Mail  Packet  service.  The  only  river 
of  note  is  the  Liffey.  The  prevailing  character  of  the 
sub-soil  is  calp,  lime-stone  and  granite.  The  surface  is 
level,  rising  at  its  southern  boundary  into  a  range  of 
elevated  hills,  the  summit  of  the  highest  of  which,  Kip- 
pure,  2,473  feet  above  high  sea  level.  The  county  in 
divided  into  nine  Baronies,  viz.,  Balrothery,  E.  Balroth- 
ery,  W.  Castleknock,  Coolock,  Dublin,  Nethercross, 
Newcastle,  Rathdown,  Uppercross,  and  contains  76 
civil  parishes,  and  10  parts  of  parishes,  and  1,066  town- 
lands,  having  a  population  of  158.936  persons,  or  31,- 
086  families,  inhabiting  26,858  houses,  also  1,835  un- 
inhabited and  110  building.  This  is  in  the  Arch- 
diocese?! of  Dublin  and  Glandelough.  The  principal 
towns  are  Kingstown,  population  16,378.  The  county 
returns  two  members  to  Parliament;  constituency,  5,220, 
with  18  polling  places.  The  towns  are  Skerries,  Chapel- 
izod,  Rush,  Swords,  Howth,  Terenure,  Malahide,  Baldoyle, 
Lusk,  Dundrum,  Lucan,  Stillorgan. 

See  Dublin,  under  Boroughs  and  Cities. 

FERMANAGH  COUNTY. 

FERMANAGH,  an  inland  county  in  Ulster  province. 
Boundaries  :  N.  Donegal  and  Tyrone;  E.  Tyrone  and 
Monaghan;  S.  Cavan;  W.  Cavan  and  Leitrim.  Length  N 
W.  and  S.  E.  45  miles  ;  breadth  N.  E.  and  S.  W.  29  miles, 
comprising  an  area  of  457,195  acres,  of  which  106,530 
are  under  tillage,  243,251  in  pasture,  5,909  in  plantations, 


264:  GAZETTEER    OF   IRELAND. 

55,248  waste,  bo<r,  mountain,  etc.,  210  in  towns,  and  40,431 
under  water.  The  surface  generally  exhibits  a  succes- 
sion of  abrupt  eminences  of  slight  elevation  ;  it  is  moun- 
tainous along  the  western  boundary,  from  Ballyconnell 
to  the  sea,  and  also  between  Lisnaskea,  Fivemiletown  and 
Rosslea.  Lough  Erne,  its  most  attractive  feature,  ex- 
tends from  one  extremity  to  the  other  for  45  miles  in  a. 
N.  W.  direction  ;  it  bisects  the  county,  and  is  divided 
into  upper  and  lower  ;  the  upper  extends  from  Wattle- 
bridge  to  Enniskiilen  ;  the  lower  from  Enniskillen  to 
Rosscor,  where  its  waters  are  contracted  and  forms  the 
river  Erne,  which  extends  to  the  county  Donegal  and 
falls  into  the  sea  at  Ballyshannon.  It  is  navigable  dur- 
ing the  winter  season  through  its  whole  extent  to  the 
fall  at  Beleek,  within  three  miles  of  Ballyshannon  ;  a 
steamer  plies  occasionally  during  the  summer  months 
between  Enniskillen  and  Beleek,  on  the  lower  lake  ; 
Miother  steamer  has  been  provided  for  the  upper  lakes. 
The  other  lakes  next  in  size  are  Loughs  Melvin  and 
Macnean.  The  soil  is  variable,  heavy,  and  retentive  of 
moisture,  light  and  friable  and  moorish.  Coal  and  iron 
oro  are  found  in  small  quantities,  and  there  is  sand  and 
limestone  in  abundance  ;  the  climate  mild  and  moist. 
The  trade  in  butter  is  considerable,  and  the  linen  manu- 
facture of  a  coarse  description,  chiefly  for  domestic  use, 
is  carried  on  to  a  small  extent. 

The  county  is  divided  into  8  baronies,  viz  :  Clanawly, 
Clankelly,  Coole,  Knockninny,  Lurg,  Maghcraboy, 
Magherastephena,  Tyrkennedy,  and  contains  23  parishes, 
and  2,183  town  lands,  having  a  population  of  92,794  per- 
sons, or  18,957  families,  inhabiting  17,710  houses,  also 
577  uninhabited,  and  34  building. 

It  is  chiefly  in  Clogher  diocese,  with  a  small  portion 
in  that  of  Kilmore.  The  county  town  is  Enniskillen, 
population  of  5,90G.  The  county  returns  3  members 
to  Parliament — 2  for  the  county,  constituency,  4,859  with 
13  polling  places  ;  and  1  for  Enniskillen  borough,  con- 
stituency 403. 


GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND.  265 

GALWAY  COUNTY. 

GALWAY,  a  maritime  county  in  Connaught  province, 
Boundaries,  N.  Mayo  and  Roscommon;  E.  Roscomraon, 
Kings,  and  Tipperary;  S.  Clare  and  Galway  bay;  W. 
the  Atlantic  Ocean.  Length,  E.  and  W.  84  miles; 
breadth,  N.  and  S.,  62  miles;  comprising  an  area  of 
1,566,352  acres,  of  which  230,902  are  und^r  tillage,  794,- 
710  in  pasture,  23,910  in  plantations,  426,600  waste  bog, 
mountain,  etc.,  1,801  in  towns,  and  90,230  under  water. 
The  coast  is  indented  with  numerous  bays.  The  principal 
islands  are  Inismore,  population  2,592;  Inishmaan,  473; 
Inishere  456;  Garomna  and  Inishark.  On  Inishere  there 
is  a  light-house,  and  also  one  on  Eevagh  Island  to  the  N. 
W.  of  Inishmore;  there  are  light-houses  with  fixed  lights  at 
Sline  Head  in  Connemara,  and  on  Mutton  Island  in  Gal- 
way  Harbour.  Lough  Corrib  divides  the  county  into 
the  E.  and  W.  districts,  and  is  navigable  from  the  sea  to 
Cong,  in  Mayo,  and  small  steamers  ply  on  its  entire 
length.  Lough  Dearg  is  an  expansion  of  the  Shannon, 
which  forms  part  of  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  county. 
The  W.  district,  named  also  larconnaught,  Connemara, 
and  Joyce's  country,  is  mountainous  and  rugged,  poorly  in- 
habited, parts  almost  desolate,  but  capable  of  high  degrees 
of  cultivation  at  moderate  expense,  and  from  its  wild 
and  beautiful  scenery  is  crowded  every  summer  with 
tourists;  the  E.,  level  and  mostly  arable  with  much  bog. 
Iron  and  lead  ore  has  been  found  and  the  former  worked 
when  timber  for  smelting  it  was  abundant.  Limestone 
and  marble  are  the  chief  minerals.  In  Connemara  there 
is  abundance  of  most  beautiful  green  variegated  marble, 
called  serpentine;  the  black  near  Oughterard  is  very 
fine  and  has  been  exported  to  the  London  and  other 
markets.  The  occupations  are  chiefly  agricultural. 
Coarse  linens  and  woolen  stockings  are  manufactured, 
and  kelp  along  the  shores.  At  Oughterard  a  linen  weav- 
ing factory  has  been  established,  and  on  the  coast  fishing 
affords  occupation  to  many  of  the  inhabitants.  A  com- 
pany for  deep  sea  fishing  and  trawling  has  been  estab- 
tablished  in  Galway.  A  branch  of  the  Grand  Canal  ex- 


260  GAZETTEER    OF    IRELAKD. 

tends  from  Shannon  harbor  to  Ballinasloe.  The  county 
is  divided  into  18  baronies,  viz:  Aran,  Athenry,  Bally- 
moe,  Ballinahinch,  Clare,  Clonmacnowen,  Dunkillin, 
Dunmore,  Galway,  (Co.  of  Town)  Kilconnell,  Killian, 
Kiltartan,  Leitrim,  Longford,  Loughrea,  Moycullen, 
Ross,  Tiaquin,  and  110  parishes,  10  parts  of  parishes  and 
4,237  town  lands,  having  a  population  of  248,458  or  48,057 
families,  inhabiting  45,504  houses;  also  970  uninhabited, 
and  95  building.  The  county  comprehends  the  whole  of 
Kilmacduagh  diocese,  and  parts  of  the  Tuam,  Clonfert, 
Elphin,  and  Killaloe.  It  returns  4  members  to  Parlia- 
ment; 2  for  the  county  at  large,  constituency,  5,087,  with 
37  polling  places.  The  towns  are  Tuam,  Ballinasloe,  part 
of,  Loughrea,  Gort,  Clifden,  Portumna,  Athenry,  Head- 
ford,  Dunmore,  Oughterard,  Eyrecourt,  Kinvara,  Men- 
lough. 

KERRY  COUNTY. 

KERRY,  a  maritime  county  in  Minister  province. 
Boundaries:  N.  the  estuary  of  the  Shannon;  E.  Limerick 
and  Cork;  S.  Cork  and  Kenmare  estuary;  W.  the  Atlantic 
ocean.  Length,  N.  and  S.  60  miles;  breadth  E.  and  W. 
58  miles,  comprising  an  area  of  1,185,918,  acres,  of  which 
152,689  are  under  tillage,  638,149  in  pasture,  15,101  in 
plantations,  348,097  waste,  bog,  mountain,  etc.,  807  in 
towns,  and  31,882  under  water.  The  principal  bays  along 
the  coast  are  Tralee,  Brandon,  Smerwick,  Dingle,  Ballins- 
kellig,  and  Kenmare  estuary.  The  principal  islands  are 
Valentia,  population  2920.  The  Blasquets  and  the  Skellig 
rocks,  on  one  of  which  there  is  a  lighthouse  showing  two 
fixed  lights.  The  face  of  the  country  is  formed  of 
mountain  ranges,  intersected  by  deep  valleys  with  some 
level  ground.  The  summit  of  Carran  Tual,  the  highest 
mountain  in  Ireland,  is  3,410  feet  above  high  sea  level. 
The  lakes  of  Killarney  are  small  but  peculiarly  pictur- 
esque and  are  now  accessible  by  the  Killarney  Junction 
Railway,  from  Mallow,  on  the  Grand  Southern  and  West- 
ern line.  The  subsoil  is  slate  and  red  sand-stone  with 
limestone  in  the  low  districts.  Iron  ore  abounds,  copper 


GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND.  267 

and  lead  ores  are  found  in  many  places,  and  mines  are 
worked  near  Kenmare  and  Tralee.  The  coal  veins  of 
Duhallow  run  into  the  northeastern  part  of  the  county. 
Slate  of  a  superior  kind  and  flagstone  are  raised  in  great 
quantities  at  Valentia.  The  occupations  are  dairy  farm- 
ing, tillage  and  fishing.  The  chief  crops,  potatoes,  oats 
and  turnips.  The  county  is  divided  into  eight  baronies, 
viz:  Clanmaurice,  Corkaguiny,  DunKerrow,  N.  Dun- 
Kerrow,  S.  Glenarought,  Iraghticonnor,  Iveragh,  Magun- 
ihy,  Trughanacmy,  and  contains  87  parishes,  and  2,716 
town  lands,  having  a  population  of  196,586  persons,  or  34,- 
747  families,  inhabiting  32,240  houses,  also  463  uninhab- 
ited, and  68  building.  The  principal  towns  are  the  Parlia- 
mentary borough  of  Tralee,  population  of  9,506.  The 
county  is  the  diocese  of  Ardfert  and  Aghadoe;  it  returns 
3  members  to  Parliament,  2  for  the  county,  constituency 
5,409  with  29  polling  places,  and  1  for  Tralee  borough, 
constituency  322.  The  towns,  Killarney,  Listowel, 
Dingle,  Cahirciveen,  Castle-Island,  Kenmare,  Killorglin, 
Ballylongford,  Torbert,  Castlegregory,  Milltown. 

KILDARE  COUNTY. 

KILDARE,  an  inland  county  in  Leinster  province. 
Boundaries:  N.  Meath;  E.Dublin  and  Wicklow;  S.  Car- 
low;  W.  Queens,  Kings  and  Westmeath.  Length  N.  and 
S.  40  miles;  breadth  E.  and  W.  27;  comprising  an  area 
of  418,497  acres,  of  which  138,146  are  under  tillage,  218- 
035  in  pasture,  7,585  in  plantations,  53,741  waste,  bog, 
mountain,  etc.,  and  1,017  under  water.  The  subsoil  is 
limestone  and  clay-slate;  the  surface  level,  with  a  few 
low  hills  interspersed.  The  rivers,  Liffey  and  Barrow, 
pass  through  the  county;  the  Boyne  rises  in  its  N.  part. 
The  Grand  and  Royal  canals  traverse  it,  as  also  the 
Great  Southern  and  Western  railway,  passing  through  or 
near  the  towns  of  Naas,  Newbridge,  Ki  1  dare,  Monaste ra- 
ven, and  Athy,  and  the  Midland  Great  Western  railway 
passing  near  the  towns  of  Leixlip,  Maynooth,  Kilcock, 
and  Enfield.  It  contains  50,000  acres  of  bog;  the  Com- 
mon, called  the  Curragh,  covers  5,000  acres.  Large  quan- 


2G8  GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND. 

titles  of  turf  arc  sent  to  Dublin  by  the  canals.  The  oc- 
cupations are  chiefly  agricultural,  but  there  are  so  mo 
woolen,  cotton,  and  paper  factories;  adjoining  the  town 
of  Maynooth  is  the  Roman  Catholic  College  of  St.  Pat- 
rick. The  county  is  divided  into  14  baronies,  viz.:  Car- 
bury,  Clane,  Connell,  Ikeathy  and  Oughterany,  Kilcullen, 
Kilkea  and  Moone,  Naas  N.,  Naas  S.,  Narragh  and  Re- 
ban  E.,  Narragh  and  Reban  W.,  Offaly  E.,  Offaly  W., 
Salt  N.,  Salt  S.,  and  contains  116  parishes,  and  1,244 
town  lands,  having  a  population  of  83,614,  or  15,03;} 
i'atnilies,  inhabiting  14,166  houses;  also  353  uninhabited, 
and  26  building.  The  county  returns  two  members  to 
Parliament;  constituency  2,907,  with  15  polling  places.  It 
is  in  the  Home  circuit.  The  towns  are  Athy,  Naas,  New- 
bridge, Maynooth,  Celbridge,  Kildare,  Monastereven, 
Kilcullen,  Leixlip,  Kilcock,  Castledermot,  Ballymore, 
Eustace,  Rathangan. 

KILKENNY  COUNTY. 

KILKENNY,  an  inland  county  in  Leinster  province. 
Boundaries:  N.  Queen's  County;  E.  Carlow  and  Wex- 
ford;  S.  Waterford;  W.  Tipperary.  Length  N.  and  S., 
46  miles;  breadth  E.  and  W.  24  miles;  comprising  an 
area  of  509,732  acres,  of  which  118,373  are  under  tillage, 
286,948  in  pasture,  11,281  in  plantations,  90,074  waste 
bog,  mountain,  etc.,  and  3,056  under  water.  The  surface 
is  generally  level,  with  some  mountains;  the  subsoil 
chiefly  limestone,  with  clay-slate  and  sandstone  in  the 
higher  parts.  A  sulphurous  coal,  used  for  smelting  and 
smiths'  works  and  for  culinary  and  domestic  purposes,  is 
raised  at  Castlecomer.  The  soil  is  light,  loamy  and  very 
fertile  in  the  valleys.  The  Nora  passes  through  the 
middle  of  the  county.  The  Barrow  borders  it  E.  and  the 
Suir  S.  Both  of  these  border  rivers  are  navigable  to  a 
considerable  distance,  as  is  the  Nora,  for  small  barges. 
The  occupations  are  agricultural;  the  manufactures  flour, 
beer,  whisky,  and  leather.  The  county  is  divided  into 
10  baronies:  Callan,  Crannagh,  Fassadinin,  Galmoy, 
Gowran,  Ida,  Iverk,  Kells,  Knocktopher,  Shillelogher, 


GAZETTEER    OF   IKELAND.  269 

and  contains  140  parishes  and  1,605  town  lands,  having  a 
population  of  109,379,  or  21,968  families,  inhabiting  21,- 
079  houses,  also  475  uninhabited,  and  27  building.  Its 
principal  town  is  Kilkenny  City;  the  county  town  popu- 
lation 12,710.  The  county  is  in  Ossory  diocese,  except  a 
small  portion  in  Leighlin.  It  returns  3  members  to 
Parliament,  2  for  the  county;  constituency,  4,978  with  16 
polling  places,  and  1  for  Kilkenny  City;  constituency 
696.  It  is  in  the  Leinster  circuit.  The  towns  are  Callau, 
Castlecomer,  Graiguenamanagh,  Thomastown,  Arling- 
ford,  Ballyragget,  Freshford,  Gowran,  Innistiog,  Moon- 
coin,  Mullinavat,  Johnstown. 

KINGS  COUNTY. 

KINGS  COUNTY,  an  inland  county  in  Leinster  province. 
Boundaries:  N.  Westmeath;  E.  Meath  and  Kildare;  S. 
Queens  and  Tipperary;  W.  Tipperary,  Galway  and 
Roscommon.  Length  E.  and  W.  45  miles,  breadth  N. 
and  S.  39  miles;  comprising  an  area  of  493,985  acres,  of 
which  130,583  are  under  tillage,  222,680  in  pasture,  8,- 
129  in  plantation,  130,860  waste,  bog,  mountain,  etc., 
and  1,733  under  water.  The  southern  part  is  hilly,  com- 
prising a  small  portion  of  the  Slieve  Bloom  Mountains, 
the  remainder  is  comparatively  flat;  Croghan  Hill  in  the 
N.  E.  rises  to  769  feet  ;  the  bog  of  Allen  covers  a  large 
portion  of  the  centre,  and  extends  from  east  to  west  the 
whole  length  of  the  county.  The  Shannon  skirts  it  on 
the  west,  the  little  Brosna  on  the  south,  and  the  river 
Brosna  passes  through  the  north.  The  Grand  Canal 
traverses  the  county  from  Edenderry  in  the  extreme  east 
to  Shannon  harbor  in  the  west.  The  Athlone  extension 
of  the  Great  Southern  and  Western  Railway  traverses 
it  from  S.  E.  to  N.  W.,  passing  through  Portarlington, 
Tullamore  and  Clare  ;  and  in  the  south  there  is  a  branch 
of  the  same  railway  from  Roscrea  to  Parsonstown.  The 
soil  is  of  average  quality.  The  greater  part  a  light  loam 
of  medium  depth  resting  on  limestone  gravel.  The  oc- 
cupations are  agricultural;  manufactures  being  only  for 
home  consumption.  The  county  is  divided  into  12  Baron- 


270  GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND. 

ies  viz :  Ballyboy,  Ballybritt,  Ballycowan,  Clonlisk, 
Coolestown,  Eglish,  Garrycastle,  Geashill,  Kilcoursey, 
Phillipstown  L.,  Phillipstown  U.,  Warrenstown;  and  con- 
tains 51  Parishes  with  1,181  town  lands,  having  a  popu- 
lation of  75,900  persons,  or  15,595  families,  inhabiting 
14,799  houses  ;  also  429  uninhabited,  and  25  building. 
It  is  in  the  dioceses  of  Kildare  and  Meath,  Killaloe, 
with  portions  in  Ossory  and  Clonfert.  Tullymore,  the 
county  town,  has  a  population  of  5,179.  The  county 
returns  two  members  to  Parliament;  constituency,  3,368, 
with  17  polling  places.  It  is  in  the  home  circuit.  The 
towns  are  :  Parsonstown,  Edenderry,  Banagher,  part  of 
Portarlington,  Clara,  Phillipstovvn,  Frankford  and  Shin- 
rone. 

LEITRIM  COUNTY. 

LEITRIM,  a  maritime  county  in  Connaught  province. 
Boundaries:  N.  Donegal  Biy,f  Donegal  and  Fermanagh; 
E.  Fermanaugh  and  Cavan;  S.  Longford;  W  Roscom- 
mon  and  Sligo.  Length  N.  and  S.  51  miles;  breadth  E. 
and  W.  21  miles;  comprising  an  area  of  392,363  acres,  of 
which  86,738  are  under  tillage,  212,032  in  pasture,  3265 
in  plantations,  66,580  waste,  bog,  mountain,  etc.,  and 
23,748  under  water.  The  Shannon,  which  flows  through 
Lough  Allen  in  this  county,  forms  its  western  boundary; 
the  other  large  lakes  are  Loughs  Macnean,  Melvin,  Gill, 
Rinn,  Beelhovel,  Scurr,  St.  John's  and  Garadice.  The 
soil  is  cold,  stiff  and  retentive,  but  fertile  in  the  valleys, 
where  the  subsoil  is  limestone.  The  county  is  intersected 
by  a  canal  uniting  the  Shannon  at  Carrick-on-Shannon, 
with  Lough  Erne  at  Ballyconnell.  Iron  and  lead 
ores  are  abundant ;  also  coal  in  Slieve  Aderien  moun- 
tain, and  on  the  south  side  of  Lough  Allen,  where  it  is 
raised  to  some  extent.  Linens  and  coarse  woolen  for 
domestic  use  are  manufactured.  The  extension  of  the 
Midland  Great  Western  Railway  from  Lqngford  to  Sligo 
is  open  through  the  southern  part  of  the  county,  by 
Newtownforbes,  Rooskey,  Dromod,  Drumsna  and  Car- 
rick-on-Shannon ;  and  the  railway  from  Enniskillen  to 


GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND.  271 

Bundoran  and  Sligo  is  open  to  Bundoran.  The  county 
is  divided  into  5  baronies,  viz  :  Carrigallen,  Drumahaire, 
Leitrim,  Mohill,  Rosclogher,  and  contains  17  parishes, 
with  1489  town  lands,  having  a  population  of  95,562 
persons,  or  17,835  families,  inhabiting  17,373  houses, 
also  276  uninhabited,  and  52  building.  It  is  in  Kilrnore 
and  Ardagh  dioceses,  and  in  the  Connaught  circuit.  The 
largest  town  is  the  county  town  of  Carrick-on-Shannon, 
with  a  population  of  1442.  The  county  returns  2  mem- 
bers to  Parliament ;  constituency  2538,  with  14  poll- 
ing places.  The  towns  are  Mohill,  Manorharnilton,  Bal- 
linamore. 

LIMERICK  COUNTY." 

LIMERI CK,  a  maritime  county  in  Munster  province. 
Boundaries:  N.  the  estuary  of  the  Shannon,  Clare  and 
Tipperary;  E.  Tipperary;  S.  Cork ;  W.  Kerry.  Length  N. 
and  S.  35  miles;  breadth  E.  and  W.  54  miles;  compris- 
ing an  area  of  680,842  acres,  of  which  189,176  are  under 
tillage,  404,467  in  pasture,  8,734  in  plantations,  59,991 
waste  bog,  mountain,  &c.,  and  18,474  under  water.  The 
surface  is  an  undulating  plain,  watered  by  the  Maigue, 
Deel  and  Mulcair,  and  rising  into  mountains  in  the  N.  E. 
S.  and  S.  W.  The  subsoil  is  limestone,  trap  and  sand- 
stone. The  soil  is  peculiarly  fertile,  particularly  in  the 
morasses  along  the  Shannon  and  in  the  Golden  Vale,  which 
extends  from  the  borders  of  Tipperary  westward  through 
the  centre  of  the  county.  The  occupations  are  chiefly 
agricultural;  pasturage  and  dairy  farming  are  most  culti- 
vated; tillage  less  attended  to.  Large  quantities  of  pro- 
duce are  exported;  the  manufactures  are  coarse  woolens, 
paper,  flour,  meal.  The  county  is  divided  into  14  Bar- 
onies, viz.:  Clanwilliam,  Connello,  L.,  Connello  U. 
Coonagh,  Coshlea,  Coshma,  Glenquin,  Henry,  Kilmallock, 
Limerick  (North  Liberties),  Owneybeg,  Pubblebrien, 
Shanid,  Small  county,  and  contains  131  Parishes,  with  2067 
town  lands,  having  a  population  of  191,936  persons,  or  36,- 
895  families,  inhabiting  31,863houses;  also 829 uninhabit- 
ed, and  38  building.  The  county  is  in  Limerick  and  Emly 


272  GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND. 

dioceses,  with  small  portions  in  Cashel  and  Killaloe.  The 
principal  towns  are  the  city  and  Parliamentary  borough 
of  Limerick,  population  49,980.  The  county  returns  4 
members  to  Parliament,  2  for  the  county  at  large;  constit- 
uency 6,309,with  23  polling  places,  and  2  for  Limerick  city, 
constituency  1,947.  It  is  in  the  Munster  circuit.  TOWNS: 
Kathkeale,  Newcastle,  Bruff,  Askeaton.Kilfinane,  Kilmal- 
lock,  Abbeyfeale,  Cappamore,  Croom,  Glin,  Ballingarry, 
Adare,  Hospital,  Drumcolloher,  Ballylanders,  Bruree. 

LONDONDERRY  COUNTY. 

LONDONDERRY,  a  maritime  county  in  Ulster  province. 
Boundaries:  N:  Lough  Foyle  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean; 
E.  Antrim  and  Lough  Neagh;  S.  Tyrone;  W.  Donegal. 
Length  N.  and  S.  40  miles;  breadth  E.  and  W.  34 
miles;  comprising  an  area  of  522,315  acres,  of  which  196,- 
887  are  under  tillage,  228,186  in  pasture,  5,483  in  plan- 
tations, 82,279  waste,  bog,  mountain,  &c.,  and  9,480 
under  water.  The  surface  is  hilly  and  rugged,  with  fer- 
tile tracts  along  the  rivers.  The  rivers  are  the  Bann 
(part  of)  on  its  E.,  the  Foyle  (part  of)  on  its  W.  bound- 
ary, and  the  Faughan,  Roe,  and  Moyola,  with  their  numer- 
ous feeders,  in  the  intermediate  tracts.  The  subsoil  is 
mica-slate,  sandstone,  and  tabular  trap;  clay-slate,  basalt 
and  limestone  are  found  in  most  districts.  The  chief 
crops  are  oats,  barley,  potatoes  and  flax,  with  some 
wheat.  The  staple  manufacture  is  linen.  The  fourth 
part  of  the  county  is  held  by  lease  under  the  Irish  So- 
ciety and  six  London  companies,  to  whom  the  land  was 
granted  by  James  the  II  out  of  the  forfeited  estates  of  the 
Northern  chiefs;  the  names  of  the  companies  are: 

IRISH  SOCIETY.  ACREAGE.  VALUATION. 

Irish    Society 6.075 £11,335 

Drapers'  Company 27,025 14,859 

Fishmongers'  Company  20,059 9,159 

Grocers'   Company ....  11,638 6,457 

Ironmongers'  Company.12,714 8,032 

Salters'  Company 19,445 17,263 

Skinners'  Company.. .  .34,772 9,511 

Total   .132,178  £76,016 


GAZETTEER   OF    IRELAND. 

The  county  is  divided  into  0  baronies,  viz:  Coleraine, 
Keenaght,  Longhinsholin,  Northeast  Liberties  of  Coler- 
aine, Northwest  Liberties  of  Londonderry,  Tyrkeeran, 
and  containing  43  parishes  and  1,202  town  lands,  having 
a  population  of  173,906  persons,  or  34,624  families,  inhab- 
iting 32,590  houses;  also  940  uninhabited,  and  76  build- 
ing. 

The  county  is  chiefly  in  Derry  diocese,  with  portions 
in  Armagh  and  Connor.  The  principal  towns  are  Lon- 
donderry city  and  Parliamentary  borough;  population, 
25,242;  and  the  Parliamentary  borough  of  Coleraine, 
6,588.  The  county  returns  4  members  to  Parliament, 
2  for  the  county  at  large;  constituency,  5,615,  with  18 
polling  places;  and  one  each  for  Londonderry  city  and 
Coleraine  borough ;  constituencies,  1,759  and  482.  It  is  in 
the  N.  W.  circuit.  The  towns  are  Limavady,  Magher- 
afelt,  Maghera,  Kilrea,  Garvagh,  Dungiven,  Moneymore, 
Castledawson,  Tobermore,  Portstewart,  Draperstown. 

LONGFORD  COUNTY. 

LONGFORD,  an  inland  county  in  Leinster  province. 
Boundaries:  N.  Leitrim  and  Cavan;  E.  and  W.  West- 
meath;  W.  Roscommon.  Length  W.  and  S.  29  miles; 
breadth  E.  and  W.  22  miles;  comprising  an  area  of  269,- 
409  acres,  of  which  79,709  are  under  tillage,  124,406  in 
pasture,  3,317  in  plantations,  48,302  waste,  bog,  mountain, 
etc.,  and  13,675  under  water.  The  surface  is  level,  with 
some  low  hills.  The  subsoil  is  limestone  and  clay-slate; 
the  soil  fertile  and  well  suited  to  pasturage,  with  much 
bog.  The  Tnny,  a  tributary  to  the  Shannon,  takes  its  rise 
in  Lough  Kinale,  county  Westmeath,  and  flows  into  the 
Shannon  at  Lough  Ree.  The  Royal  canal  passes  through 
the  county  to  the  town  of  Longford,  and  terminates  in 
the  Shannon  at  Clondra.  Two  branches  of  the  Midland 
Great  Western  Railway  pass  through  the  county  from 
Mullingar  to  Longford  and  Cavan.  The  occupations  are 
tillage  and  grazing,  chiefly  the  latter;  linens  and  coarse 
woolens  are  manufactured.  The  county  is  divided  into  6 
baronies,  viz:  Ardagh,  Granard,  Longford,  Moydow,  Rath- 
18 


274  GAZETTEER    OF    IRELAND. 

cline,  Shrule,  containing  20  parishes,  and  891  town  lands, 
having  a  populat  on  of  64,501  persons,  or  12,483  families, 
inhabiting  12,002  houses;  also  190  uninhabited,  and  28 
building.  It  is  in  Ardagh  diocese  with  a  small  portion 
in  Meath.  The  principal  towns  are  Longford,  the  county 
town,  population  4,375.  The  county  returns  2  members 
to  Parliament,  constituency  2,731,  with  12  polling  places. 
It  is  in  the  N.  W.  circuit.  The  towns  are  Granard,  Edge- 
worthstown,  Ballymahon. 

LOUTII  COUNTY. 

LOUTII,  a  maritime  county  in  Leinster  province,  and 
the  smallest  in  Ireland.  Boundaries,  N.  Armagh  and 
Down;  E.  the  Irish  Sea;  S. 'Meath;  W.  Meath  and  Mona- 
ghan.  Length  N.  and  S.  25  miles,  breadth  E.  and  W.  15 
miles,  comprising  an  area  of  202,123  acres,  of  which 
106,071  are  under  tillage,  09,322  pasture,  4,882  in  planta- 
tions, 21,595  waste,  bog,  etc.,  and  053  under  water.  It 
is  intersected  by  588  miles  of  roads  kept  in  repair  by  the 
grand  jury  presentments.  On  its  N.  coast  Carlingford 
Bay  separates  it  from  Down,  on  its  S.  the  estuary  of  the 
Boyne  from  Meath;  between  both  is  the  bay  and  harbor 
of  Dundalk.  The  river  Boyne,  here  navigable,  skirts  the 
county  on  the  S.  The  surface  is  level  or  undulating,  ex- 
cept on  the  N.,  where  it  is  rugged  and  mountainous;  the 
subsoil  is  clay-slate  and  graywacke,  and  in  a  few  dis- 
tricts the  mountain  limestone  carboniferous  slate,  old 
red  sand  stone  in  one  place  and  granite.  The  soil  is 
fertile"  except' in  the  elevated  tracts;  tillage  is  much 
practiced;  wheat,  barley,  oats  and  green  crops  are  raised. 
The  farms  are  well  fenced  and  drained.  Linen  is  manu- 
factured. The  co'unty  is  divided  into  0  baronies,  vi/: 
Ardee,  Drogheda,  Dundalk  L.,  Dundalk  U.r  Ferrard, 
Louth,  and  contains  04  parishes  and  074  town  lands  hav- 
ing a  population  of  84,021  persons,  or  17,080  families, 
inhabiting  16,S85  houses,  also  718  uninhabited,  and  35 
building.  The  county  is  in  Armagh  archdiocese,  with  a 
small  portion  in  that  of  Meath.  The  principal  towns  are 
the  town  and  Parliamentary  borough  of  Dundaik;  popula- 


GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND.  275 

tion  11,377;  and  the  Parliamentary  borough  of  Drogheda, 
15,24(3. 

The  county  returns  4  members  to  Parliament,  2  for  the 
county  at  large,  constituency  2,240,  with  10  polling  places: 
1  for  Dundalk,  constituency  541,  and  1  for  Drogheda, 
constituency  779.  It  is  in  the  N.  E.  circuit.  Towns  are 
Ardee,  Carlingford,  Clogher,  Collon,  Castlebellingham, 
Dunleer. 


MAYO  COUNTY. 

MAYO,  a  maritime  county  in  Connaught  province; 
Boundaries:  N.  the  Atlantic  ocean;  E.  Siigo  and  Ros- 
conimon;  S.  Galway;  W.  the  Atlantic.  Length  58  miles; 
breadth  E.  and  W.  72  miles  ;  comprising  an  area  of 
1,367,618  acres;  of  which  204,425  are  under  tillage,  520,- 
930  in  pasture,  8,869  in  plantations,  576,418  waste,  bog, 
mountain,  etc.,  and  56,976  under  water.  The  coast  is  in- 
dented with  the  bays  of  Killala,  Broadhaven,  Blacksod, 
the  two  last  being  separated  from  each  other  by  the  nar- 
row isthmus  of  Belmullet,  the  entrance  into  the  penin- 
sula of  the  Mullet,  Tulloghane  bay,  Clew  bay,  studded 
with  numerous  islets  and  the  Killeries.  Near  the  coast 
are  the  islands  of  AchilL  35,283  acres;  Clare,  3,959  acres; 
Inishturk,  1,451  acres;  Innisboffin,  2,315  acres,  and  nu- 
merous smaller.  The  surface  is  of  every  character;  much 
mountain  and  waste,  and  much  level  and  fertile  land. 
The  summits  of  Muilrea,  Nephin  and  Croagh  Patrick  are 
2,680,  2,530  and  2,370  feet  above  high  sea  level.  On  the 
summit  of  the  last  is  a  chapel  dedicated  to  St.  Patripk. 
The  sub-soil  in  the  level  parts  is  limestone,  in  the  other 
parts  red  sandstone,  mica-slate,  granite  and  quartz;  iron 
ore  abounds,  but  remains  unwrought  for  want  of  fuel. 
There  are  several  valuable  slate  quarries.  Lakes  Conn, 
Carragh,  Cullen,  Castlebar,  Carramore,  Fyogh,  and  some 
smaller  are  within  the  county.  Those  of  Mask  and 
Corrib  border  it  on  the  S.  The  river  Moy  forms  part  of 
its  E.  boundary.  The  occupations  are  agriculture  and 
fishing.  Pasturage  is  more  attended  to  than  tillage.  The 
linen  manufacture  flourished  here,  but  has  declined. 


276  GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND. 

The  salmon  fishery  on  the  Moy,  and  the  other  rivers  of 
the  county,  is  very  considerable.  The  county  is  divided 
into  nine  baronies,  viz:  Burrishoole,  Carra,  Clanmorris, 
Costello,  Erris,  Gallen,  Kilmaine,  Murrisk,  Tirawley,  and 
contains  73  parishes,  having  a  population  of  264,030,  or 
45,360  families,  inhabiting  43,999  houses,  also  807  unin- 
habited, and  70  building.  It  is  in  the  dioceses  of  Tuam, 
Killala  and  Achonry.  The  county  returns  two  members 
to  Parliament;  constituency  3,433,  with  25  polling  places. 
It  is  in  the  Connaught  circuit.  The  towns  are  Ballina, 
part  in  Co.  Sligo,  Westport,  Castlebar,  Ballirobe,  Bal- 
laghadereen,  Swineford,  Claremorris,  Kiltamagh,  Cross- 
rnolina,  Belmullet,  Newport,  Charlestown,  Foxibrd,  Kil- 
lala, Louisburg,  Ballyhaunis. 

MEATH  COUNTY. 

MEATH,  a  maritime  county  in  Leinster  province. — 
Boundaries:  N.  Cavan,  Monaghan,  and  Louth;  E.  the 
Irish  Sea  and  Dublin;  S.  Dublin,  Kildare,  and  King's 
county;  W.  Westmeath.  Length  N.  and  S.  40  miles  ; 
breadth  E.  and  W.  47  miles;  comprising  an  area  of  579- 
861  acres,  of  which  167,604  are  under  tillage,  369,061  in 
pasture,  10,467  in  plantations,  29,485  waste,  bog,  moun- 
tain, etc.,  and  3,244  underwater.  The  county  forms  the 
E.  part  of  the  Great  Limestone  plain  that  extends  over 
all  the  central  portion  of  Ireland.  It  has  only  about  10 
miles  of  coast,  and  no  harbor  of  importance.  The  sur- 
face is  level  or  undulating,  rising  toward  the  W.  and  N. 
W.  The  soil  a  rich  loam,  very  fertile.  The  rivers  are 
the  Boyne  and  the  Blackwater.  The  Royal  Canal  pass- 
es through  the  county.  The  occupations  are  almost  ex- 
clusively agricultural,  chiefly  grazing.  Coarse  linens  are 
manufactured,  and  there  are  3  woolen  factories.  The 
county  is  divided  into  18  baronies,  viz.:  Deece  L.,  Deece 
U.,  Duleek  L.,  Duleek  U.,  Dunboyne,  Fore,  Kells  L., 
Kells  U.,  Lune,  Morgallion,  Moyfenrath  L.,  Moyfenrath  U., 
Navau  L.,  Navan  U.,  Katoath,  Skreen,  Slane  L.,  Slane  U., 
and  contains  146  parishes,  and  1,626  town  lands,  having  a 
population  of  95,558  persons,  or  19,516  families,  inhabit- 


GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND.  277 

ing  18,814  houses;  also  458  uninhabited,  and  43  build- 
ing. The  county  is  in  Meath  diocese,  with  portions  in 
Armagh  and  Kihnore.  The  county  returns  two  members 
to  Parliament,  constituency  of  4,254,  with  19  polling 
places.  It  is  in  the  Home  circuit.  The  towns  are  Na- 
van,  Kells,  Trim,  Old  Castle,  Athboy,  Duleek. 

MONAGHAN  COUNTY. 

MONAGHAN,  an  inland  county  in  Ulster  province. 
Boundaries:  N.  Tyrone;  E.  Armagh  and  Louth;  S.  Meath 
and  Cavan;  W.  Fermanagh.  Length  W.  and  S.  37  miles; 
breadth  E.  and  W.  28  miles;  comprising  an  area  of  319,- 
741  acres,  of  which  151,477  are  under  tillage,  132,178  in 
pasture,  4,617  in  plantations,  25,955  waste,  bog,  moun- 
tain, etc.,  and  6,167  under  water.  The  general  surface 
is  hilly  and  mountainous  in  the  N.  W.,  and  to  the  E.  join- 
ing Armagh;  the  highest  point  of  the  Slievebeagh  range 
is  1,254  feet  above  high  sea  level.  The  soil  is  of  every 
variety;  that  in  the  more  level  portion  which  forms  the 
N.  part  of  the  great  central  limestone  plain  of  Ireland,  is 
very  fertile,  but  the  more  hilly  parts  are  a  stiff  clay,  good 
for  flax  and  corn,  though  very  difficult  to  work.  The 
lakes  and  rivers  are  numerous,  but  small;  the  N.  Black- 
water,  which  falls  into  Lough  Neagh,  forms  a  part  of  the 
E.  boundary.  The  Ulster  canal  passes  through  the  county. 
The  occupations  are  mostly  agricultural;  spade  husbandry 
is  much  practiced;  the  main  crops  are  oats,  barley,  pota- 
toes and  flax;  which  latter,  from  its  improved  culture,  is 
vastly  increasing  both  in  quantity  and  in  value;  the  cul- 
ture of  wheat  and  of  green  crops  is  increasing;  the  linen 
manufacture  is  reviving.  The  county  is  divided  into  five 
baronies,  viz:  Cremorne,  Dartree,  Farney,  Monaghan, 
Trough,  and  containing  23  parishes  and  1,850  town  lands, 
having  a  population  of  114,969  persons,  or  23,168  fami- 
lies, inhabiting  22,420  houses;  also  598  uninhabited,  and 
42  building.  It  is  wholly  in  the  diocese  of  Clogher.  The 
county  returns  two  members  to  Parliament,  constituency 
5,634,  with  12  polling  places,  and  is  in  the  N.  E.  circuit. 
The  towns  are  Monaghan,  Clones,  Carrickmacross,  Cas- 
tleblayney,  Ballybay. 


278  GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND. 

QUEEN'S  COUNTY. 

QUEER'S  COUXTV,  an  inland  county  in  Leinster  prov- 
ince. Boundaries:  N.  King's;  E.  Kildare  and  Carlow;  S. 
Kilkenny  ;  W.  Tipperary  and  King's.  Length  N.  and 
S.  33  miles  ;  breadth  E.  and  W.-  37  miles;  comprising 
an  area  of  424,854  acres,  of  which  151,994  are  under 
tillage,  211,159  in  pasture,  9,141  in  plantations,  52,164 
waste,  bog,  mountain,  etc.,  arid  396  under  water.  The 
surface  is  generally  flat,  rising  in  the  north-west  into  the 
Slieve- Bloom  Mountains,  whose  summit,  Arderin,  is  1,- 
734  feet  above  the  sea.  The  sub-soil  is  for  the  most  part 
limestone;  in  the  south  is  a  large  and  rich  field  of  anthra- 
cite coal,  extensively  worked.  The  soil  is  generally  fer- 
tile with  large  tracts  of  bog.  The  Barrow,  has  its  source 
in  the  Slieve-Bloom  Mountains,  the  Nore  runs  through 
the  county  ;  the  small  lake  Annagh  is  on  the  north  boun- 
dary. A  branch  of  the  Grand  Canal,  passing  by  Port- 
arlington,  terminates  at  Mountmellick  ;  and '  a  second 
branch  passing  through  a  portion  of  the  county,  connects 
the  Grand  Canal  with  the  Barrow  navigation  at  Athy. 
Tne  Great  Southern  and  Western  Railway  crosses  the 
county  from  N.  E.  to  S.  W.,  having  stations  at  Portarling- 
ton,  with  a  branch  line  to  Athlone,  Maryborough,  Mount- 
rath  and  Ballybrophy,  with  a  branch  to  Parsc;istown. 
The  occupations  are  agricultural;  tillage  is  much  prac- 
tised ;  green  crops  and  cultivated  dairies  numerous.  The 
county  is  divided  into  11  baronies,  viz :  Ballyadams, 
Clandonagh,  Clarmallagh,  Cullenagh,  Maryborough  E., 
Maryborough  W.,  Portnahinch,  Slievemargy,  Stradbally, 
Tinnahinch  and  Uppervvoods,  and  contains  53  parishes, 
and  1,156  town  lands,  having  a  population  of  79,771  per- 
sons, or  16,198  families,  inhabiting  15,519  houses,  also  279 
uninhabited  and  46  building.  The  baronies  of  Clandon- 
agh, Clarmallagh  and  Upperwoods,  formerly  constituted 
the  barony  of  upper  Ossory.  The  county  is  in  the  dio- 
ceses of  Leighlin  and  Ossory,  with  portions  in  those  of 
Kildare,  Killaloe  and  Dublin.  The  county  returns  3 
members  to  Parliament,  2  for  the  county  ;  constituency 
3,398,  with  18  polling  places,  and  1  for  the  borough  of 


GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND.  279 

Portarlington ;  constituency  141.  It  is  in  the  Home 
Circuit.  The  towns  are  Mountmollick,  Maryborough, 
Mountrath,  Portarlington  part  in  King's  County,  Ab- 
beyleix,  StradbaHy,  Rathdowney,  Durrow,  Ballynakill, 
Borris-in-Ossory. 


ROSCOMMON  COUNTY. 

ROSCOMMOX,  an  inland  county  in  Connaught  province. 
Boundaries:  N.  Sligo  and  Leitrim;  E.  and  S.  Leitrim, 
Longford.  Westmeath,  Kings  and  Galway;  W.  Galway 
and  Mayo;  length  60  miles,  breadth  40  miles;  comprising 
an  area  of  607,691  acres,  of  which  136,109  are  under 
tillage,  333,291  in  pasture,  7,677  in  plantations,  101,249 
waste,  bog,  mountain,  etc.,  and  29,370  under  water. 
The  surface  is  undulating  or  flat  except  towards  the  N., 
•where  the  Curlew  mountains  lie  near  Sligo,  and  the 
Branlieve  near  Leitrim.  The  Shannon,  with  the  Loughs, 
Boffin,  Bodarigg  and  Ree,  form  part  of  the  E.,  and  the 
Suck  the  W.  boundary.  Lough  Key  is  in  the  N.  and 
Lough  Gara  in  the  W.  of  the  county.  The  soil  in  the 
level  parts  is  very  fertile;  the  subsoil  is  limestone;  coal 
and  iron  have  been  wrought,  but  never  to  advantage; 
bogs  are  numerous.  The  occupations  are  agricultural; 
grazing  is  chiefly  attended  to.  The  linen  manufacture 
is  declining.  The  county  is  divided  into  9  baronies,  viz: 
Athlone,  Ballintober,  N.  Ballintober,  S.  Ballymoe, 
Boyle,  Castlereagh,  Frenchpark,  Moycarn,  Roscommon, 
and  containing  53  parishes,  7  parts  of  parishes,  and  1,995 
town  lands,  having  a  population  of  140,670  persons,  or 
26,539  families,  inhabiting  25,782  houses;  also  558  unin- 
habited, and  48  building.  It  is  in  Elphin  diocese,  with 
small  portions  in  those  of  Tuam,  Clonfert  and  Ardagh. 
The  county  town  is  Roscommon,  which  has  only  a  popula- 
tion of  2,375.  The  part  of  the  Parliamentary  borough 
of  Athlone,  in  this  county,  has  a  population  of  3,428,  and 
the  remainder,  3,137,  is  in  Westmeath;  a  small  portion 
<'f  the  town  of  Ballinasloe,  893  persons  is  in  this  county; 
The  remaining  population,  4,159,  is  in  Galway  county; 
122  persons  in  the  town  of  Carrick-on -Shannon  is  in  this 


280  GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND. 

county  and  the  remainder,  1,320,  are  in  Leitrim  county. 
The  county  returns  2  members  to  Parliament,  -consti- 
tuency 3,699  with  22  polling  places.  It  is  in  the  Con- 
naught  circuit.  The  towns  are  Boyle,  Castlerea,  Elphin, 
Strokestown. 


SLIGO  COUNTY. 

SLIGO,  a  maritime  county  in  Connaught  province. 
Boundaries:  N.  Atlantic  ocean;  E.  Leitrim;  S.  Roscora- 
mon  and  Mayo;  W.  Mayo.  Length  N.  and  S.  38  miles; 
breadth  E.  and  W.  41  miles;  comprising  an  area  of  461,- 
796  acres,  of  which  97,558  are  under  tillage,  222,199  in 
pasture,  6,272  in  plantations,  123,027  waste,  bog,  moun- 
tain, etc.,  and  12,740  under  water.  The  coast  is  indented 
by  Sligo  and  Killala  bays.  Near  it  are  the  islets  of  In- 
nismurry,  Oyster  and  Coney.  The  surface  has  much 
mountain  and  much  level  ground.  The  soil  in  many 
parts  is  a  light  sandy  loam,  in  others  it  is  deep  and  rich; 
many  patches  of  bog  are  interspersed.  The  sub-soil  in 
the  level  county  is  limestone.  The  Moy  forms  part  of 
the  west  boundary  of  the  county.  The  Loughs  are  Gill, 
Arrow,  Gara,  Talt,  Easky,  and  several  smaller.  The  oc- 
cupations are  agricultural;  coarse  woolens  and  linens  are 
manufactured.  The  county  is  divided  into  six  baronies, 
viz.:'  Carbury,  Coolavin,  Corran,  Leyny,  Tireragh,  Tirer- 
rill,  and  contains  thirty-seven  parishes  and  four  parts  of 
parishes,  1,292  town  lands,  having  a  population  of  115,493 
persons,  or  21,667  families,  inhabiting  20,979  houses;  also 
537  uninhabited,  and  39  building.  It  is  in  the  dioceses 
of  Achonry  and  Elphin,  with  portions  in  Killala  and 
Ardagh.  The  county  town  of  Sligo  has  10,670  inhabi- 
tants, and  the  portion  of  the  town  of  Ballina  in  this 
county  has  1,536  inhabitants,  the  remaining  persons, 
4,301,  being  in  the  county  of  Mayo.  The  county  returns 
two  members  to  Parliament;  constituency  3,473,  with  17 
polling  places.  It  is  in  the  Connaught  circuit.  The 
towns  are  Ballymote  and  Tobercurry. 


GAZETTEER   OF   ICELAND.  281 

TIPPERARY  COUNTY. 

TIPPEKAKY,  an  inland  county  in  Munster  province. 
Boundaries  :  N.  Galway  and  Kings;  E.  Kings,  Queens 
and  Kilkenny;  S.  Waterford;  N.  Cork,  Limerick,  Clare 
and  Galway.  Length  N.  and  S.  70  miles;  breadth,  E. 
and  W.  40  miles,  comprising  an  area  of  1,061,731,  of 
which  292,084  are  under  tillage,  583,774  in  pasture, 
25,895  in  plantations,  146,377  waste,  hog,  mountain,  etc., 
and  13,523  under  water.  The  surface  rises  into  the 
the  mountains  of  Knockrneledown,  the  Galtees  and 
S'ievenamon  in  the  S.,  the  group  of  which  Keeperhill 
is  the  principal  in  the  W.,  and  into  the  Slievardagh  hills 
E.  The  soil-  of  the  level  country  is  a  rich  calcareous 
loam  of  extraordinary  fertility,  particularly  in  the  tract 
called  the  Golden  Vein,  extending  from  Limerick 'to  the 
confines  of  Kilkenny  county,  and  in  the  centre  of  which 
is  Tipperary  town,  and  in  another  similar  tract  of  level 
ground  in  the  Ormoud  baronies.  The  Suir  and  Nore 
rise  in  the  Devil's  Bit  Mountain,  near  Templemore,  the 
former  for  the  greater  part  of  its  course  running  through 
the  county ;  the  Shannon  forms  part  of  its  western 
boundary.  The  sub-soil  is  clay-slate  in  mountain  dis- 
tricts, and  limestone  in  the  more  level  tracts,  which  form 
part  of  the  great  central  plain  of  Ireland,  and  include 
some  branches  of  the  bog  of  Allen.  The  mineral  pro- 
ductions are  coal,  copper  and  lead.  Zinc  in  large  quan- 
tities has  lately  been  discovered  at  Silvermines  ;  also 
excellent  fire-clay  ;  slates  of  a  good  quality  are  exten- 
sively raised  near  Killaloe,  copper  at  Hollyford,  and  lead 
at  Shallee,  are  found  most  abundantly;  the  lead  is  rich  in 
silver.  The  occupations  are  almost  wholly  agricultural. 
The  produce  is  principally  corn;  wheat  is  grown  in  large 
quantities  and  of  a  superior  quality;  dairies  are  numerous, 
affording  an  export  of  large  quantities  of  butter.  Flour 
and  meal  are  also  largely  manufactured  and  exported. 
The  woolen  trade  which  flourished  in  the  southern  part, 
is  nearly  extinct.  The  county  is  divided  into  two  Ridings, 
N.  and  S.,  each  consisting  of  six  baronies,  viz:  North 
Riding,  Eliogarty,  Ikerrin,  Kiliiamaaagh,  U.,  Ormond,  L., 


282  GAZETTEER   OF   IKELAND. 

Ormond,  U.  Owney  and  Arra.  South  Riding:  Clanwil- 
liara,  IfFa  and  Offa  E.;  Iffa  and  Offa  W.;  Kilnaraagh, 
Middle-third,  Slievardagh,  and  contains  193  .parishes,  and 
3,253  town  lands,  having  a  population  of  216,715  persons, 
or  42,060  families,  inhabiting  38,554  houses;  also  1,265 
uninhabited,  and  108  building.  It  is  in  the  dioceses  of 
Cashel,  Emly,  Killaloe  and  Lismore.  The  county  returns 
3  members  to  Parliament — 2  for  the  county  at  large;  con- 
stituency 8,740,  with  27  polling  places,  and  one  for  the 
borough  of  Clonmel;  constituency  442.  It  is  in  the 
Leinster  circuit.  The  towns  are  Clonmei  874,  being  in 
Co.  "VVaterford,  Carrick-ori-Suir  1,482,  being  in  Co.  Wat- 
erford;  Nenagh,  Tipperary,  Thurles,  Cashel,  Templemore, 
Roscrea,  Caher,  Fethard,  Newport,  Killenanle,  Borriso- 
kane,  Mullinahone,  Borrisoleigh,  Cloughjordan,  Cappagh, 
Ballyporeen. 

TYRONE  COUNTY. 

TYRONE,  an  inland  county  in  Ulster  province.  Boun- 
daries: N.  Londonderry;  E.  Lough  Neagh  and  Armagh; 
S.  Monaghan  and  Fermanagh;  W.  Fermanagh  arid  Done- 
gal. Length  N.  and  S.  46  miles  ;  breadth  E.  and  W. 
60  miles;  comprising  an  area  of  806,658  acres,  of  which 
275,423  are  under  tillage,  264,271  in  pasture,  9,195  in 
plantations,  226,366  waste  bog,  mountain,  etc.,  and  31,796 
under  water.  The  surface  hilly,  rising  into  mountains  in 
the  N.  and  S.,  and  declining  to  a  level  towards  Lough 
Neagh  ;  the  soil  in  the  lower  districts  is  fertile  and  wa- 
tered by  numerous  branches  of  the  Foyle  and  Blackwater 
rivers.  Coal  fit  for  domestic  purposes  is  raised  near  Dun- 
gannon  and  Coal  Island,  a  thriving  and  populous  village; 
and  indications  of  lead,  coal,  copper  and  iron  are  frequent 
in  the  hilly  districts.  Tillage  is  practiced  on  improved 
principles  in  the  fertile  parts.  Young  cattle  are  reared 
in  the  hilly  and  mountain  districts.  The  manufactures  are 
linens,  coarse  woolens,  whiskey,  beer,  flour,  meal,  chemi- 
cals, soap,  candles,  and  coarse  earthenware.  The  county 
is  divided  into  8  baronies,  viz  :  Clogher,  Dungannon  L., 
Dungannon  Middle,  Dungannon  W.,  Omagh  E.,  Omagh 


GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND.  283 

W.,  StrabaneL.,  StrabaneU.,  and  contains  46  parishes  and 
2,164  town  lands,  having  a  population  of  215,765  persons, 
or  42,747  families,  inhabiting  41,522  houses  ;  also  1,340 
uninhabited,  and  81  building.  It  is  in  Armagh  and  Derry 
dioceses,  with  a  small  portion  in  that  of  Clogher.  The 
county  returns  three  members  to  Dvrliament — two  for  the 
county  at  large;  constituency  8,942,  with  22  polling 
places,  and  one  for  Dungannon  borough;  constituency 
256.  The  county  is  in  the  N.  W.  circuit. 

THE  towns  are  Strabane,  Dungannon,  Omagh,  Cooks- 
town,  Aughnacloy,  Fintona,  Newtownstewart,  Stewarts- 
town,  Quin,  Castlederg,  Dromore,  Fivemiletown,  Coal 
Island,  Moy,  Caledon,  Ballygawley,  Pomeroy. 

WATERFORD  COUNTY. 

WATERFORD,  a  maritime  county  in  Munster  prov- 
ince. Boundaries:  N.  Tipperary  and  Kilkenny;  E. 
Wexford;  S.  Atlantic  Ocean;  W.  Cork.  Length  N. 
and  S.  28  miles;  breadth  E.  and  W.  52  miles,  com- 
prising an  area  of  461,522  acres,  of  which  106,754  are  "un- 
der tillage,  229,464  in  pasture,  19,899  in  plantations, 
99,520  waste,  bog,  mountain,  etc.,  and  5,779  under  water. 
The  surface  is  mountainous,  the  principal  ranges  being 
Kiiockmeledon,  Cummeragh,  Monevolagh  and  Drum;  to- 
wards the  E.  it  is  low  and  marshy.  The  Suir  bounds  it 
on  the  N.,  and  its  estuary  called  Waterl'ord  harbor,  on 
the  E.;  the  Blackwater,  with  its  estuary  called  Youghal 
harbor,  on  the  W.  On  the  coast  are  the  bays  Tramore, 
Dungarvan  and  Ardmore,  and  at  a  distance  from  land, 
the  Nymph  bank,  once  thought  to  afl'ord  an  inexhausti- 
ble supply  of  fish,  but  now  less  highly  estimated.  Lead 
and  iron  mines  have  been  wrought,  hut  generally  with  lit- 
tle profit;  the  copper  mineral  wealth  is  of  high  value;  one 
mine,  the  Knockmahon,  worked  by  the  Irish  Mining  Com- 
pany, is  very  productive.  Near  Cappoquin  and  White- 
church  are  valuable  quarries  of  marble.  The  occupations 
are  chiefly  pasturage  and  dairy  farming.  Large  quanti- 
ties of  butter  and  bacon  are  exported.  Cotton  is  manu- 
factured. The  county  is  divided  into  8  baronies,  viz.: 


284  GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND. 

Coshmore  and  Coshbride,  Dccies  within  Drum,  Decies 
without  Drum,  Gaultiere,  Glenahiry,  Kilculliheen,  Mid- 
dlethird,  Upperthird,  which  with  Waterford  City,  con- 
tains 82  parishes  and  1,557  town  lands,  having  a  popula- 
tion of  123,310  persons,  or  24,225  families,  inhabiting 
21,252  houses;  also  820  uninhabited,  and  48  building.  It 
returns  5  members  to  Parliament,  2  for  the  county  at 
large,  constituency  3,279,  with  16  polling  .places,  2  for 
Waterford  City;  constituency  1,297,  and  1  for  Durigarvau 
borough,  constituency  340.  The  towns  are  Waterford, 
Dungarvan,  Portlaw,  Tramore,  Lismore,  Cappoquin,  Tal- 
low Passage,  Kilmacthomas,  Buiimahun. 

WESTMEATH  COUNTY. 

WESTMEATH,  an  inland  county  in  Leinster  province. 
Boundaries:  N.  Longford  and  Meath;  E.  Meath;  S.  Kings; 
W.  Roscommon.  Length  N.  and  S.  35  miles;  breadth 
E.  and  W.  40  miles;  comprising  an  area  of  453,468  acres, 
of  which  111,752  are  under  tillage,  253,964  in  pasture, 
8,427  in  plantations,  54,898  waste,  bog,  mountain,  etc., 
and  22,427  under  water.  The  surface  is  very  picturesque, 
being  much  diversified  with  hill,  valley,  lake,  but  no 
mountain.  The  soil  is  fertile,  on  a  limestone  sub-soil; 
there  is  much  bog.  The  principal  lakes  are  Ree,  an  ex- 
pansion of  the  Shannon  in  the  W.,  Sheelin  in  the  N., 
and  Dereveragh,  Owel  and  Ennel,  the  source  of  the  Bros- 
na,  in  the  interior.  The  occupations  are  wholly  agricul- 
tural, chiefly  grazing  and  dairy  farming;  the  crops,  oats 
and  potatoes,  with  some  wheat.  Flour  and  meal  are 
manufactured  in  large  quantities.  The  Royal  canal  passes 
through  the  county,  and  a  branch  of  the  Grand  canal  to 
Kilbeggan.  The  county  is  divided  into  12  baronies,  viz: 
Brawney,  Clonlonan,  Corkaree,  Delvin,  Farbill,  Fartullagh 
Fore,  Kilkenny,  W.,  Moyashel  and  Magheradeinon  Moy- 
cashel,  Moygoish,  Rathconrath,  and  contains  63  parishes 
and  1,356  town  lands,  with  a  population  of  78,432  per- 
sons, or  15,854  families,  inhabiting  15,152  houses;  also 
456  uninhabited,  and  36  building.  It  is  in  Meath  diocese, 
with  a  small  portion  in  that  of  Ardagh.  The  county  re- 


GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND.  285 

turns  three  members  to  Parliament,  two  for  the  county  at 
large;  constituency  3,552,  with  17  polling  places,  and  one 
lor  Athlone  borough;  constituency  342.  It  is  in  the 
home  circuit.  The  towns  are  Athlone,  Mullingar,  Moate, 
Kilbeggan,Castlepollard,  Kinnegad,  Delvin,  Clonmellou. 

WEXFORD  COUNTY. 

WEXFORD,  a  maritime  county  in  Leinster  province. 
Boundaries:  N.  Wicklow;  E.  St.  George's  Channel;  S.  At- 
lantic Ocean;  W.  Waterford,  Kilkenny  and  Carlow. 
Length  N.  and  S.  55  miles;  breadth  34  miles,  comprising 
an  area  of  576,588  acres,  of  which  244,276  are  under  til- 
lage, 273,884  in  pasture,  11,763  in  plantations,  42,997 
waste,  bog,  mountain,  etc.,  and  3,668  under  water.  The 
eastern  coast  is  dangerous  from  sandbanks,  and  unpro- 
vided with  harbors  ;  that  of  Wexford  being  barred,  and 
Courtown  fit  only  for  small  .craft.  Off  the  S.  coast  are 
the  islands  of  the  Saltees,  Koningsmore  and  Koningsbeg, 
near  the  latter  of  which  there  is  a  floating  light ;  and  off 
Carnsore  point,  the  S.  E.  extremity  of  Ireland,  is  the 
Tusker  Rock,  with  a  revolving  light,  two  faces  bright  and 
one  red.  The  surface  is  hilly,  rising  into  the  ridge  of 
Mount  Leinster  and  Blackstairs  on  the  N.  W.,  and  de- 
clining into  a  level  peninsula  to  the  S.  E.  The  Slaney, 
navigable  for  barges  to  Enniscorthy,  passes  through  the 
county.  The  Barrow,  navigable  for  the  large  vessels  to 
New  Ross,  and  for  barges  to  Athy,  skirts  it  on  the  W. 
The  greater  portion  of  the  soil  is  a  light  or  stiff  clay, 
chiefly  on  a  sub-soil  of  clay-slate.  The  occupations  are 
mostly  agricultural ;  dairies  are  numerous.  The  chief  crops, 
oats,  barley  and  potatoes,  with  beans,  in  Firth  and  Bargy, 
which  are  inhabited  by  a  colony  from  Pembrokeshire,  set- 
tled there  on  the  first  landing  of  the  English  ;  much 
round  fish  is  taken  on  the  coast.  The  county  is  divided 
into  10  baronies,  viz:  Ballaghkeen  N.,  Ballaghkeen  S., 
Bantry,  Bargy,  Forth,  Gorev,  Scarawalsh,  Shelburne, 
Shelmaliere  E.,  Shelmaliere  W.,  and  contains  144  par- 
ishes and  1,600  town  lands,  having  a  population  of  132,666 
persons,  or  27,373  families,  occupying  24,982  houses;  also 


286  GAZETTEER   OF    IRELAND. 

495  uninhabited,  and  38  building.  It  is  in  Ferns  diocese, 
with  a  small  portion  in  that  of  Dublin.  The  county  re- 
turns four  members  to  Parliament,  two  for  the  county  at 
large;  constituency  6,018,  \vith  14  polling  places,  and  one 
for  each  of  the  boroughs  of  Wexford  and  New  Ross;  con- 
stituencies 508  and  218.  It  is  in  the  Leinster  circuit. 

THE  towns  are  Wexford,  New  Ross,  Enniscorthy,  Gorey, 
Ncwtownbarry,  Duncannon  and  Ferns. 

WICKLOW  COUNTY. 

WICKLOW,  a  maratime  county  in  Leinster  province. 
Boundaries:  N.  Dublin;  E.  St.  George's  Channel ;  S.  Wex- 
ford; W.  Carlow  and  Kildare.  Length  40  miles;  breadth 
33  miles,  comprising  an  area  of  500,178  acres,  of  which 
117,999  are  under  tillage,  249,206  in  pasture,  19,557  in 
plantations,  and  112,326  in  waste,  bog,  mountain,  etc.,  and 
1,090  under  water.  The  coast  is  mostly  precipitous,  and 
dangerous  from  sand-banks,  the  N.  and  S.  extremities  of 
which  are  marked  by  floating  lights;  there  are  also  2 
fixed  lights  on  Wicklow  Head.  The  surface  is  much  di- 
versified and  highly  picturesque,  rising  in  the  interior 
into  mountain  groups,  the  highest  summit  of  which  is 
Lugnaquilla,  3,039  feet  above  high  sea  level,  and  inter- 
sected by  deep  and  romantic  valleys,  of  which  the  princi- 
pal are  Glenmalur,  Glen  of  Imail,  Glen  of  the  Downs, 
Devil's  Glen,  and  the  Vale  of  Avoca;  it  declines  to  the 
sea  on  the  E.,  and  to  the  general  level  of  the  country  on 
the  W.  The  principal  lakes  are  Loughs,  Tay  or  Lugge- 
law,  Dan,  Bray,  and  Glendelough.  The  Liffey  and  Slaney 
rise  in  the  county;  the  Avonmore,  or  Avoca,  flows 
through  it.  The  sub-soil  is  granite  in  the  mountain  dis- 
tricts, and  clay-slate  on  the  declivities.  The  mining  op- 
erations are  very  considerable — lead  and  copper  being 
raised  in  quantities;  gold  has  also  been  found.  The  soil 
is  very  fertile  in  the  lower  tracts,  and  along  the  river 
courses.  Marl  is  found  in  many  places.  The  occupa- 
tions, excepting  the  Avoca  district,  are  almost  wholly  ag- 
ricultural; the  crops,  oats,  potatoes,  and  some  wheat; 
pasturage  much  attended  to;  the  fisheries  neglected;  the 


GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND.  287 

manufacture   of   flannels,  once  extensive,  now  nearly  ex- 
tinct. 

The  county  town  of  Wicklow  is  connected  with 
Dublin  by  a  railway,  which  is  extended  through  the 
Vale  of  Avoca  and  mining-  district  as  lar  as  Enniscorthy. 
Wicklow  has  also  a  good  hotel  on  the  Murragh, 
close  to  the  railway  station.  The  mines  of  the  county 
have  attracted  a  good  deal  of  attention,  and  of  late  pin- 
ing operations  have  been  considerably  increased.  The 
county  is  divided  into  eight  baronies,  namely:  Ark- 
low,  Ballinacor  N.,  Ballinacor  S.,  Newcastle,  Rathdown, 
Shillelagh,  Talbotstown  L.,  Talbotstown  U.,  and  contains 
59  parishes.  It  is  in  the  dioceses  of  Dublin  and  Glen- 
delough,  with  portions  in  those  of  Leighlin  and  Ferns,  with 
a  population  of  78,697,  or  14,734  families,  inhabiting  14,- 
111  houses;  also  625  uninhabited,  and  47  building.  The 
county  returns  2  members  to  Parliament;  constituency 
3,527,  with  17  polling  places.  It  is  in  the  Leinster  cir- 
cuit. The  towns  are  Bray.  Arklow,  Wicklow,  Baltin- 
glass,  Rathdrum,  Carnew,  Rathnew,  Dunlavin. 


CITIES  AND  BOROUGHS. 


ARMAGH  CITY. 

ARMAGH,  an  inland  city  and  parliamentary  borough, 
in  Armagh  barony  and  county,  province  of  Ulster.  64 
miles  N.  N.  W.  from  Dublin,  and  30  miles  from  Belfast; 
comprising  within  its  municipal  boundary  269  acres;  pop- 
ulation 8,946,  inhabiting  1,626  houses,  being  the  most 
populous  inland  town  in  Ireland  excepting  Kilkenny, 
Lurgan,  Clonmel,  and  Newtownards.  It  is  the  seat  of 
the  Archiepiscopal  See  of  the  Primate  of  Ireland.  The 
town  stands  on  the  acclivities  of  a  hill,  of  which  the  Ca- 
thedral tops  the  summit.  Thare  are  also  a  Protestant 
Chapel  of  Ease,  a  Roman  Catholic  Cathedral,  1  Roman 


288  GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND. 

Catholic  Chapel,  2  Methodist,  3  Presbyterian,  and  1  In- 
dependent. The  other  public  buildings  are  the  County 
Court  house,  District  Probate  Registry  Court,  Prison,  In- 
firmary, Fever  Hospital,  District  Lunatic  Asylum,  Macan 
Asylum  for  the  blind,  Shell's  Almshouses,  21  in  num- 
ber, the  Royal  School,  a  Public  Library,  built  and  en- 
dowed by  Primate  Robinson,  Market  House,  Linen  Hall, 
Yard!  Hall,  Music  Hall  and  Tontine  buildings,  in  which 
is  a  large  public  assembly  room,  and  a  spacious  news- 
room, Drelincourt's  Schojl,  Roman  Catholic  Seminary, 
and  other  schools,  an  Observatory,  and  the  Natural  His- 
tory and  Philosophical  Society's  house,  also  barracks  for 
200  men.  The  Callan,  which  empties  itself  into  the  Black- 
water,  passes  near  the  town,  and  the  Ulster  Canal  within 
4  miles.  Railways  connect  the  town  with  Belfast  ,Ne wry, 
Warrenpoint,  Greenore,  Londonderry,  Sligo,  Dublin,  etc. 
The  borough  returns  1  member  to  Parliament;  constitu- 
ency, 584.  Rateable  value  of  property  £16,613.  The 
borough  receipts  amount  to  £729,  and  the  expenditure 
£716.  Markets  are  held  on  Tuesday  for  general  pur- 
poses, and  on  Wednesday  and  Saturday  for  grain,  and  a 
fair,  for  the  sale  of  horses,  cows  and  sheep,  on  the  first 
Thursday  of  the  month.  There  are  two  newspapers  pub- 
lished in  the  city — the  Armagh  Guardian  and  the  Ulster 
Gazette. 

ATHLONE  BOROUGH. 

ATIILONE,  an  inland  town  and  Parliamentary  borough 
in  Westmeath  and  Roscommon  counties,  partly  in 
Leinster  and  partly  in  Connaught  province,  76  miles 
west  from  Dublin;  the  boundaries  for  municipal  purposes 
being  defined  in  Local  Act  of  1852,  and  for  Parliament- 
ary purposes  were  extended  to  the  same  limit  by  the  Re- 
form Act  of  1868.  It  is  situated  on  both  sides  of  the 
river  Shannon,  and  being  considered  one  of  the  principal 
military  positions  in  Ireland,  is  secured  by  strong  works 
on  the  Roscommon  side,  covering  15  acres  and  contain- 
ing 2  magazines,  an  ordnance  store,  an  armory  for 
15,000  stand  of  arms,  and  barracks  for  1,500  men.  The 


GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND.  289 

Shannon  commissioners  have  much  improved  the  naviga- 
tion of  the  river  at  this  place  by  the  construction  of 
large  lock  custom  wharves,  a  wier  wall,  and  the  magnifi- 
cent cut-stone  bridge.  Large  river  steamers  can  now 
ply  without  interruption  from  Killaloe  to  Carrick-on- 
Shannon,  a  distance  of  110  miles.  A  brisk  trade  with 
Dublin  and  Limerick  is  maintained  by  means  of  the 
river  and  the  Royal  and  Grand  Canals,  and  Midland, 
Great  Western,  and  Great  Southern,  and  Western  Rail- 
ways, besides  which  the  Great  Northern  and  Western 
Railway  has  its  eastern  terminus  here.  There  are  in  the 
town  2  Parochial  churches,  2  Roman  Catholic  churches, 
Franciscan  and  Augustinian  chapels,  Presbyterian, 
Baptist,  and  2  Methodist  meeting-houses,  and  a  dilapi- 
dated court-house,  and  Bridewell  on  the  Roscommon  side 
of  the  river.  A  new  court-house  is  about  to  be  erected 
on  an  improved  site.  There  is  a  bi-weekly  market  for 
grain,  and  the  cattle-fairs  and  markets  are  growing  in 
importance,  owing  to  the  central  position  of  the  town 
and  the  extensive  railway  communication.  A  woolen 
factory  has  been  established  by  Messrs.  Gleeson  & 
Smyth.  There  is  a  valuable  fishery  adjoining  the  weir 
wall.  The  population,  6,5(36,  inhabiting  1,093  houses. 
The  property  of  the  extinguished  corporation  is  vested 
in  the  town  commissioners.  The  borough  returns  1 
member  to  Parliament;  constituency  352.  Rateable  value 
of  property,  £9,535;  town  receipts,  £2,699;  expenditure, 
£2,029;  debt,  £1,784.  The  Westmeath  Independent 
newspaper  is  published  here  on  Saturday. 

BELFAST  BOROUGH. 

BELFAST,  a  maritime  town  and  Parliamentary  borough, 
the  capital  of  Ulster,  the  chief  manufacturing  and  com- 
mercial town  of  Ireland,  and  since  1850  the  County  town 
of  Antrim,  chiefly  in  Antrim  county,  101  miles  north  of 
Dublin,  comprising  an  area  in  the  new  boundary  of  5,992 
acres,  including  1,670  acres  in  the  suburb  of  Ballyma- 
carrett,  County  Down.  In  1851  the  population  was  100,- 
031,  in  '61,  121,602,  inhabiting  10,595  houses,  and  in  71 
19 


290  GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND. 

the  population  had  increased  to  174,412,  occupying  27,- 
691  houses.  The  rateable  property  under  the  general 
Valuation  Acts  amounted  in  '62  to  £278,807,  increased  to 
£489,824  in  '76,  being  an  increase  in  14  years  of  £-ill,017. 
The  number  of  new  buildings  erected  within  the  borough 
during  the  same  period  was  17,006.  The  town  is  about 
12  miles  from  the  sea,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Lagan,  which 
bounds  it  on  the  S.  E.,  and  flows  immediately  into  Bel- 
fast Lough,  which  is  twelve  miles  in  length  and  five  in 
breadth  at  the  entrance,  gradually  narrowing  as  it  ap- 
proaches the  town.  The  river  Lagan,  which  separates 
the  counties  of  Antrim  and  Down,  is  crossed  by  five 
bridges;  the  Queen's  bridge  is  a  splendid  structure,  and 
Ormeau  bridge,  of  four  arches,  opened  in  '63,  at  a  cost  of 
£17,000,  is  a  magnificent  work.  Belfast  is  built  on  an  al- 
luvial deposit,  and  lies  low,  the  greater  portion  being  not 
more  than  six  feet  above  high  sea  level,  yet  on  account 
of  its  geographical  position  it  is  healthy.  Its  places  of 
worship  are  Church  of  Ireland  21;  Roman  Catholic  6; 
Presbyterian  31;  Unitarian  3;  Reformed  Presbyterian  2; 
United  Presbyterian  1;  Evangelical  Union  2;  Baptist  2; 
Independent  3;  Methodist  15;  Quaker  1.  Its  educational 
establishments  are  the  Queen's  College,  a  fine  building 
in  the  Elizabethan  style,  the  General  Assembly's  Col- 
lege, the  Methodist  College,  the  Royal  Academical  Insti- 
tution, the  Belfast  Academy,  the  Ladies'  Industrial  School 
for  Girls,  being  the  first  Ragged  school  established  in 
Ireland,  130  national  schools  in  the  town  and  its  vicinity, 
and  77  private  seminaries.  The  public  libraries  are  in 
the  Queen's  College,  the  Royal  Academical  Institution 
and  the  Linen  Hall.  There  are  sixteen  newspapers,  one 
of  which,  the  News-Letter,  dates  from  1737.  The  other 
public  institutions  are  the  Charitable  Society's  Poor-house, 
the  Lying-in  Hospital,  the  Belfast  Royal  Hospital,  the 
Belfast  Opthalmic  Hospital,  Hospital  for  Skin  Diseases, 
the  Ulster  Eye,  Ear  and  Throat  Hospital,  the  Samaritan 
Hospital  and  three  Children's  Hospitals,  the  Nurses  Hom^ 
and  Training  School,  the  District  Lunatic  Asylum,  the 
Deaf  and  Dumb  and  Blind  Asylum,  the  Union  Work- 
House,  the  County  Court  House  and  Prison,  the  Malone 


GAZETTEEE    OF   IRELAND.  291 

Protestant  Reformatory,  the  Magdalen  Asylum,  the  Ul- 
ster Female  Penitentiary,  the  White  Linen  Hall,  the  Com- 
mercial buildings  and  exchange,  the  Harbor  office,  the 
Belfast,  Ulster  and  Northern  Joint  Stock  Banks,  the 
branch  offices  of  the  Bank  of  Ireland,  Provincial,  Na- 
tional, and  Savings  Banks,  and  a  large  number  devoted  to 
charity,  education  and  art.  An  extensive  range  of  offices 
for  the  Customs,  Inland,  Revenue  and  Post  Office,  and  a 
fine  block  of  buildings  for  Town  Hall  and  other  corporate 
purposes;  and  in  the  suburbs  there  is  the  Ormeau  Park, 
the  Falls  Park,  the  Royal  Botanic  Garden,  and  the  new 
borough  Cemetery.  In  1870  a  clock  tower  was  erected  in 
memory  of  the  late  Prince  Consort;  it  is  called  the  Al- 
bert Memorial  Clock  Tower;  the  height  from  the  ground 
to  the  four  clock  dials  is  90  feet,  and  the  entire  height  of 
the  structure  143  feet. 

The  borough  of  Belfast  returns  two  members  to  Parlia- 
ment; constituency  18,963,  and  the  town,  which  is  iden- 
tical with  the  parliamentary  borough,  is  governed  by  a 
corporation  of  ten  aldermen  and  thirty  counselors,  from 
which  a  mayor  is  annually  chosen.  The  number  of  bur- 
gesses in  '70,  was  5,220,  and  the  total  revenue  of  the  bor- 
ough in  '75  was  £143,870,  and  the  expenditure  £146,876. 
Debt,  £687,628.  Belfast  is  the  great  centre  of  the  Irish 
linen  manufacture,  having  within  itself  the  great  majority 
of  the  spinning  mills  arid  power-loom  weaving  factories 
in  Ireland.  The  other  chief  branches  of  industry  are 
cotton  spinning  and  power-loom  weaving,  iron  founding 
on  an  extensive  scale,  and  linen  and  yarn  bleaching. 
There  are  also  print  works,  flour  mills,  chemical  works, 
oil  mills,  alabaster  and  barilla  saw  mills,  distilleries,  brew- 
eries, tan  yards,  patent  felt  manufactories,  etc.;  two  large 
ship-yards,  with  two  patent  slips  and  three  graving  docks, 
one  of  which  is  among  the  largest  in  the  Idngdom,  and 
yards  for  manufacturing  ropes  and  sail  cloth. 

There  is  an  iron  ship-building  yard  on  Queen's  Island, 
employing  upwards  of  2,000  hands,  from  which  has  been 
launched  some  of  the  finest  steamers  and  sailing  ships 
afloat,  including  the  celebrated  White  Star  line  of  mail 
steamers.  This  yard  has  been  placed  on  the  admiralty 


292  GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND. 

list  as  suitable  for  building  for  the  royal  navy.  The  Har- 
bor commissioners,  elected  by  the  ratepayers,  have  in- 
trusted to  them  all  the  very  important  matters  connected 
with  the  shipping  interests  of  the  port,  and  the  improve- 
ments of  the  harbor.  The  quays  extend  in  a  continuous 
line  from  the  Queen's  bridge  on  both  sides  of  the  river 
for  about  a  mile.  Before  the  recent  improvements  of 
the  harbor  were  commenced,  there  were  only  two  tidal 
docks,  the  Prince's  and  the  Clarendon;  to  these  have  been 
added  the  Abercorn  basin,  and  the  Hamilton  graving  dock, 
the  Spencer  dock  and  the  Dufferin  dock,  together  with  a 
tidal  basin  at  the  entrance  of  the  Spencer  dock.  These 
new  docks  add  about  25  acres  of  water  area,  and  upwards 
of  a  mile  of  quayage  to  the  shipping  accommodation  of 
the  port.  There  has  been  expended  on  these  recent  im- 
provements, the  sum  of  £304,823,  making  the  total  assets 
of  the  commissioners  amount  to  £873,317.  The  surplus 
assets  of  the  trust  amount  to  £228,272.  The  Harbor 
Commissioners'  receipts  from  dues  were  £75,606,  and  on 
loan  £64,637.  Ordinary  expenditure  £70,637;  on  re- 
newal of  Albert  and  Queen's  quays,  £14,562,  and  on  new 
works  £7,423.  A  pair  of  masting  shears  capable  of  lift- 
ing a  weight  of  50  tons  has  been  erected  at  the  Abe  corn 
basin.  Horse  railways  connect  the  docks  with  the  railway 
termini,  and  have  also  been  introduced  in  all  the  leading 
thoroughfares.  Markets  on  Friday;  cattle  and  sheep 
market  on  Tuesday,  besides  daily  markets  for  domestic 
purposes,  and  monthly  fairs  on  the  first  Wednesday  of 
the  month.  Flax  market  on  Friday. 

The  inland  trade  is  carried  on  by  the  Lagan  Naviga- 
tion, which  connects  the  town  with  Lough  Neagh;  the 
Ulster  canal,  which  connects  Lough  Neagh  with  Ennis- 
killen;  and  by  the  Great  Northern  Counties  and  County 
Down  Railways.  By  the  great  Northern  Railway  there 
is  direct  communication  six  times  daily  with  Dublin,  and 
twice  a  day  with  Galway.  A  railroad  from  the  cave  hill, 
'3  miles  from  Belfast,  conveys  limestone  to  the  quays. 
The  termini  of  the  Great  Northern  Counties  and  County 
Down  Railways  are  handsome  structures.  The  commerce 
of  Belfast  is  extensive;  the  imports  were  £12,417,000, 


GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND.  293 

and  the  exports  about  £11,915,000.  The  custom  duties 
amounted  to  £382,549,  and  in  '73  to  £409,050.  The 
number  and  tonnage  of  vessels  which  entered  the  p  rt 
from  '75  was  7,475  vessels,  1,434,754  tons,  and  the  ton- 
nage registered  at  the  port  was  406  vessels,  65,524  tons. 

CARLOW  BOROUGH. 

CARLOW,  an  inland  town  and  Parliamentary  borough 
in  Carlow  barony  and  county,  and  Leinster  province,  on 
the  river  Barrow,  40  miles  S.  W.  by  S.  from  Dublin,  com- 
prising within  its  electoral  bouytfary  an  area  or'  572  acres, 
which  includes  the  suburb  of^rraigue,  in  the  Queen's 
county  on  the  west  side  of  the  river;  population  of  Car- 
low,  7,842,  inhabiting  1,461  houses.  The  public  build- 
ings are  three  Potestant  churches,  two  Roman  Catholic 
churches,  the  Roman  Catholic  college  and  school,  two 
nunneries,  the  Christian  Brothers'  School,  a  Presbyterian, 
a  Methouist,  and  a  Friends'  Meeting  House,  the  County 
Court  House,  Prison  Infirmary  and  Union  Work  House, 
the  District  Lunatic  Asylum,  a  Fever  Hospital  and  Bar- 
racks. A  bridge  of  five  arches  over  the  river  Barrow  con- 
nects the  suburb  of  Graigue  with  the  town.  The  borough 
is  under  th  3  Towns  Improvement  Act,  and  returns  1 
member  to  Parliament;  constituency  298;  rateable  value  of 
property,  £10,946;  borough  receipts,  £561;  expenditure, 
£429.  A  branch  of  the  Great  Southern  &  Western 
Railway  connects  Carlow  with  the  metropolis,  and  with 
Kilkenny  and  Waterford.  The  Barrow,  which  is  navi- 
gable above  the  town  to  its  junction  with  the  grand  canal 
at  Athy,  affords  great  facilities  of  export,  chiefly  of  grain 
and  butter,  to  Dublin  and  Waterford.  There  are  in  the 
town  and  its  vicinity,  several  flour  mills  and  malt  houses; 
also  an  extensive  brewery;  butter  of  superior  quality  is 
largely  exported;  two  newspapers,  the  Carlow  Post  and 
the  Carlow  Sentinel,  are  published  in  the  town. 


294:  GAZETTEER   OF   IEELAXD. 

CARRICKFERGUS  COUNTY,  OF  THE  TOWN  AND 
BOROUGH. 

CARRICKFERGTTS,  a  maritime  county  of  a  town  and  a 
Parliamentary  borough  in  Ulster  province,  situate  on  the 
N.  shore  of  Carrickf'ergus  Bay,  or  Belfast  Lough,  and 
enclosed  on  all  other  sides  by  Antrim  county;  is  111^ 
miles  N.  from  Dublin.  It  comprises  an  area  of  16,700 
acres,  of  which  12,483  are  arable,  4,086  uncultivated, 
and  129  in  the  town.  The  surface  is  hilly.  Lough 
Mourne,  a  lake  of  about^O  acres,  is  556  feet  above  high 
sea  level.  The  population  of  the  county  of  the  town, 
9,397,  inhabiting  1875  houses.  Carrickfergus  was  for- 
merly a  place  of  great  strength;  a  great  part  of  the 
walls  remain,  and  the  Castle  built  on  a  rock  projecting 
into  the  sea,  is  still  kept  up  as  an  arsenal,  and  is  mounted 
with  heavy  guns.  Its  public  buildings  are  the  Town 
Hall,  Market  Place,  Parish  Church,  Presbyterian  Dissent- 
ing and  Methodist  Meeting-Houses,  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  Court  House,  and  Jail.  The  borough  returns  1 
member  to  Parliament;  constituency  1351;  rateable  value 
of  property  £23,947;  borough  revenue  £1,114;  ex- 
penditure £1,041;  harbor  revenue  £595;  debt  £5,616. 
The  town  has  some  trade  and  manufactures,  and  ex- 
tensive fisheries.  The  oysters  taken  off  the  coast  are 
prized  for  their  size  and  flavor.  About  one  and  a  half 
miles  north-west  of  the  town,  at  Duncrue,  rock-salt  has 
been  discovered  in  the  triassic  sand-stone  deposit,  and 
considerable  quantities  of  excellent  salt  are  annually 
manufactured.  Vessels  of  100  tons  and  upwards  can 
now  discharge  at  the  landing-quay,  and  there  is  a  patent 
slip  where  vessels  can  be  repaired.  Markets  on  Satur- 
day; a  butter  and  pork  market  on  Monday,  and  one 
monthly  for  the  sale  of  cattle.  A  branch  of  the  Belfast 
and  Northern  Counties  Railway  terminates  here,  and 
there  is  a  line  to  Larne,  from  whence  steamers  ply  to 
Stranraer,  in  Scotland,  every  week-day  at  4.50  P.  M. 


GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND.  295 

CASHEL   CITY. 

CASHEL,  an  inland  city  and  formerly  a  Parliamentary 
borough  in  the  county  of  Tipperary,  100  miles  S.  ~W. 
from  Dublin,  comprises  a  municipal  area  of  4,018  acres. 
The  population  4,562,  inhabiting  788  houses.  The  city 
is  built  on  the  S.  and  E.  sides  of  an  isolated  rock,  called 
the  rock  of  Cashel,  which  rises  steeply  to  the  height  of 
about  300  feet,  in  the  middle  of  an  extensive  plain  two 
miles  east  of  the  river  Suir.  It  was  the  seat  of  the  Arch- 
episcopal,  now  the  Episcopal  See  of  Cashel,  and  pre- 
serves several  relics  of  its  ancient  splendor.  On  the 
summit  of  the  rock  was  the  palace  of  the  ancient 
Kings  of  Munster,  the  ancient  Cathedral,  Cormac's 
Chapel,  the  Episcopal  Palace,  and  a  Round  Tower,  the  ex- 
tensive remains  of  which,  from  their  elevated  position 
above  the  surrounding  country,  have  a  grand  eifect.  The 
modern  public  buildings  are  the  new  Cathedral,  the  Epis- 
copal Palace,  now  converted  into  a  Deanery  House,  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  the  Court  House,  Market  House, 
Fever  Hospital,  National  School,  Town  Commissioner's 
Hall,  Barracks,  and  County  Tipperary  Infirmary.  The  in- 
come of  the  borough  is  derived  from  landed  estates  ad- 
joining the  town,  granted  by  Bishop  Maurianus  for  the 
benefit  of  the  inhabitants.  Revenue  £3,106  ;  expendi- 
ture £2,903  ;  debt  £1.156  ;  rateable  value  of  property 
£5,687.  The  Great  Southern  and  Western  'Railway  pass- 
es within  five  miles  of  the  city.  Market  days  Wednes- 
day and  Saturday.  A  \veekly  newspaper,  the  Cashel 
Gazette  is  published  here. 

CLONMEL    BOROUGH. 

CLONMEL,  an  inland  town  and  Parliamentary  borough, 
chiefly  in  the  S.  Riding  of  Tipperary,  but  partly  in 
Waterford  county,  Munster  province,  104  miles  S.  W. 
from  Dublin,  comprising  331  acres;  population  10,112, 
inhabiting  1,378  houses.  It  is  built  on  both  sides  of  the 
Suir  and  on  Moore  and  Long  Islands,  which  are  con- 
nected with  the  main  land  by  3  bridges.  The  public 


296  GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND. 

buildings  are  the  Parish  Church,  2  Roman  Catholic 
Parish  Churches,  and  a  Franciscan  Friary,  Presbyterian, 
Unitarian,  Baptist,  Friends,  and  Methodist  Meeting- 
Houses,  2  Christian  Brothers'  Communities,  2  Convents, 
a  Female  school  under  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  an  Endowed 
School,  and  a  Model  school  under  the  National  Board  of 
Mechanics'  Institute,  Court  House  and  Prison  for  the  S. 
Riding,  a  Fever  Hospital  and  Dispensary,  the  District 
and  Auxiliary  Lunatic  Asylum,  a  Market  House  and  Bar- 
. racks.  The  woolen  manufacture  was  established  here  as 
far  back  as  1667,  but  has  ceased  to  exist. 

The  business  of  tanning  is  extensively  carried  on. 
There  is  a  large  brewery  in  the  town,  numerous  flour 
mills  and  warehouses.  The  borough  returns  1  member 
to  Parliament;  constituency  445.  Rateable  value  of 
property  £15,521.  The  corporation  have  estates  com- 
prising 4,809  Irish  acres.  Borough  receipts  £1,579;  ex- 
penditure £1,415.  The  number  of  burgesses  on  the  roll 
278;  market  days  Wednesday  and  Saturday.  Fairs  are 
held  on  the  5th  of  May  and  the  5th  of  November,  and  on 
the  first  Wednesday  in  other  months.  Two  newspapers 
are  published  in  the  town,  the  Clonmel  Chronicle,  and 
Tipperary  Free  Press,  and  a  branch  office  has  been 
opened  for  Bassett's  Daily  Chronicle,  Limerick. 

COLERAINE  BOROUGH. 

COLERAINE,  a  maritime  town  and  Parliamentary  bor- 
ough in  the  N.  E.  Liberties  of  Coleraine,  in  Londonder- 
ry county,  Ulster  province,  145  miles  N.  from  Dublin; 
comprising  a  municipal  area  of  205  statute  acres;  the 
area  of  the  Parliamentary  borough  is  9G3  acres;  popula- 
tion, 6,522,  inhabiting  1,354  houses.  The  town  is  built 
on  both  sides  of  the  river  Bann,  4  miles  from  'the  sen, 
over  which  is  a  splendid  stone  bridge  of  3  arches,  96 
yards  in  length,  by  32  feet  in  breadth,  and  cost  £14,500. 
It  consists  of  Central  Square  called  the  Diamond,  and 
several  diverging  streets.  The  portion  on  the  W.  side 
of  the  Bann,  is  called  Waterside,  and  Killovven.  The 
public  buildings  are  2  Parish  Churches,  2  Roman  Catho- 


GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND.  297 

lie  churches,  3  Presbyterian,  Independent,  Methodist,  and 
Baptist  meeting-houses;  the  Town  Hall,  Court-House, 
an  endowed  School,  a  National  Model  School,  and  Free 
Schools,  erected  by  the  Irish  Society  of  London,  at  a 
cost  of  upwards  of  £5,000.  Coleraine  is  fast  improving 
in  spinning  and  weaving  factories,  and  also  in  pork-cur- 
ing establishments.  The  salmon  fisheries  on  the  rivers 
Bann  and  Foyle,  are  farmed  at  £4,650  annually,  by  the 
Irish  Society  of  London,  successors  of  King  James'  Plan- 
ters. In  1873  the  number  of  vessels  entered  inwards 
•was  422;  tonnage  46,589;  cleared  outwards  221  vessels  of 
31,1(53  tons.  Revenue  £2,463;  expenditure  £2,341;  debt 
£15,760;  harbor  revenue  £850;  expenditure  £910;  rate- 
able value  of  property  £13,109.  The  borough  returns 
one  member  to  Parliament;  constituency  441;  two  news- 
papers: the  Coleraine  Chronicle,  and  the  Coleraine  Con- 
stitution are  published  in  the  town  every  Saturday. 

CORK  COUNTY  OF  A  CITY,  AND  PARLIAMENT- 
ARY BOROUGH. 

CORK,  a  county  of  a  city,  and  Parliamentary  borough, 
in  Monster  province,  the  third  in  Ireland  in  population, 
wealth  and  commerce;  159  miles  S.  W.  from  Dublin, 
comprising,  with  its  ancient  boundaries,  an  area  of  48,- 
006  acres,  and  within  its  modern  municipal  boundaries 
2,683  acres;  population  of  the  municipal  borough  78,- 
642,  or  within  the  Parliamentary  boundary  100,518,  in- 
habiting 14,651  houses.  The  city  is  situated  on  the  river 
Lee,  wlii eh  here  diverges  into  several  branches,  and  forms 
an  island;  is  11  miles  inland  from  the  entrance  of  the 
river  to  Cork  harbor.  The  public  buildings  are  1  Cathe- 
dral, 6  Parish  Churches  and  Chapels  of  Ease  of  the  estab- 
lishment, 4  Roman  Catholic  Parochial  Churches,  5  Mo- 
nasteries, 4  Nunneries,  with  a  chapel  attached  to  each;  2 
Presbyterian,  4  Methodist,  1  Baptist,  1  Independent,  1 
Frends'  Meeting  House,  the  Palace  of  the  Bishop,  Dio- 
cesan Library,  County  Court  House,  Military  Barrack, 
Queen's  College,  County  and  City  Prisons,  Bank  of  Ire- 
land, Provincial,  National,  Munster,  Hibernian  and  Sav- 


298  GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND. 

ings  Banks,  North  and  South  Infirmaries,  Ophthmalic 
Hospital,  Hospital  for  incurable  cancer  patients,  Lunatic 
Asylum,  Custom  House,  Commercial  Building,  Chamber 
of  Commerce,  Royal  Cork  Institution,  and  5  Industrial 
Schools.  The  headquarters  and  staff  of  the  Cork  or  South- 
ern Military  District  of  Ireland  are  stationed  here.  Near 
the  city  is  a  cemetery,  after  the  plan  of  Pere  La  Chaise,  on 
the  site  of  the  old  Botanic  Garden;  St.  Finn  Barr's  Ceme- 
tery, established  by  the  corporation  under  the  Burial  (Ire- 
land) Act  1856,  on  which  they  have  expended  £10,000. 
A  portion  of  the  Cemetery  is  set  apart  for  Protestants  and 
Protestant  dissenters,  and  a  portion  for  Roman  Catholics. 
The  Marina  is  a  picturesque  public  walk  1^  miles  in 
length  along  the  S.  bank  of  the  river;  and  the  Mardyke, 
a  public  walk  a  mile  in  length  on  the  "W.  of  the  city. 
A  park  of  about  240  acres  extends  from  Victoria  road 
along  the  south  bank  of  the  river  to  Black  Rock,  which 
has  been  converted  into  a  race-course.  There  are  9 
bridges  over  the  river  and  its  branches;  in  Patrick  street 
a  handsome  hrouze  statue  to  the  memory  of  Father 
Mathew,  the  Apostle  of  Temperance,  has  been  erected. 

The  corporation  consists  of  the  Mayor,  14  Aldermen, 
and  42  Town  Counselors;  the  number  of  burgesses, 
2,005.  The  borough  returns  2  members  to  Parliament; 
constituency  4,371.  The  net  annual  value  of  property 
under  tb*  tenement  valuation  act  is  £210,987;  borough 
rficeipis  £72,378;  debt  £193,891;  expenditures  for  cleans- 
ing, paving,  lighting,  etc.,  £70,052.  The  principal  man- 
ufactures are  tanning,  distilling,  brewing,  iron  foundries, 
gloves,  ginghams  and  freizes.  The  trade  is  also  exten- 
sive in  grain,  provisions  and  butter — of  the  latter  about 
340,000  firkins  are  shipped  annually.  The  corn  market 
covers  a  space  of  8  or  10  acres,  and  the  butter  market  is 
interesting  on  account  of  the  perfect  system  of  checks 
by  which  the  sales  are  conducted.  The  extent  of  the 
quays  is  over  4  miles,  of  which  more  than  2£  miles  is 
used  by  shipping;  on  the  improvements  connected  with 
the  river  £300,000  has  been  expended  by  the  Harbor 
Commissioners;  harbor  revenue  in  1875,  £64,918;  expen- 
ditures £55,349.  The  corporation  have  erected  2  bridges 


GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND.  299 

at  a  cost  of  £25,000 — one  finished  in  1861,  the  other  in 
1864.  Iron  ship  building  is  carried  on  with  great  spirit 
by  the  Cork  Steamship  Company,  Robinson  and  Co.,  and 
a  company  established  1872,  "The  Cork  Harbor  Docks 
and  Warehouses  Company,  limited,"  with  a  capital  of 
£120,000,  have  purchased  the  Royal  Victoria  Docks  at 
Passage  West,  and  also  the  Queenstown  Docks.  A  large 
quantity  of  grain  is  imported  into  Cork  harbor,  and  the 
company  has  already  erected  large  granaries  for  the 
storage  of  corn.  In  those  establishments  the  largest 
merchant  ships  can  be  built  or  repaired.  Three  news- 
papers, the  Constitution,  Examiner  and  Herald,  are 
published  daily  in  the  city  and  the  Cork  weekly  Herald 
on  Saturday.  Within  the  harbor  are  Great  Island,  Lit- 
tle Island,  Foaty  and  Spike  Island,  on  which  is  a  bomb- 
proof artillery  barrack  and  a  convict  depot;  Haulbowline 
Island,  containing  an  Ordinance  Depot,  and  Rocky 
Island,  in  which  are  two  powder  magazines  excavated 
from  the  rock.  A  naval  dockyard  is  now  constructing 
at  Haulbowline;  the  design  embraces  a  basin  of  12  acres, 
with  30  feet  over  the  sill  at  the  entrance,  at  high  water 
neaps  with  2000  feet  of  wharf  accommodation,  and  with 
space  for  2  docks  leading  out  of  the  basin.  The  cost  is 
estimated  at  $150,000. 

DOWNPATRICK  BOROUGH. 

DOWNPATRICK,  a  maritime  town  and  Parliamentary 
borough  in  Down  county,  Lecale  barony,  and  Ulster 
province  ;  74  miles  N.  N.  E.  from  Dublin,  comprising  an 
area  of  1,487  acres,  of  which  278  are  in  the  town,  and  1,- 
209  in  the  rural  district.  Population  4,155,  inhabiting 
903  houses.  The  town  is  situate,  in  a  steep  valley  near  the 
S.  W.  angle  of  Strangford  Lough,  is  divided  into  the 
English,  Irish  and  Scotch  quarters,  arid  consists  of  four 
main  streets  meeting  near  its  centre.  The  public  build- 
ings are  the  Cathedral  of  Down  diocese,  the  Parish  Church, 
a  neat  Parochial  school  in  Church  street,  a  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church,  2  Presbyter'an,  and  2  Methodist  Meeting 
Houses,  the  Diocesan  School,  the  County  Court  House, 


300  GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND. 

Prison,  Infirmary  and  Fever  Hospital,  the  Northern  and 
Ulster  Banks,  Alms-houses,  Widows'- houses,  and  the 
new  Lunatic  Asylum  near  the  town.  The  town  is  light- 
ed with  gas.  The  borough  returns  1  member  to  Parlia- 
ment ;  constituency  281;  rateable  value  of  property 
£10,093;  borough  rates  levied  in  1871,  £207,  lls.  lid". 
A  small  export  trade  is  carried  on  by  means  of  vessels  of 
100  tons  from  Lough  Strangford,  which  can  discharge  at 
the  Quoil  Quay,  one  mile  from  the  town,  but  vessels  of 
larger  tonnage  can  discharge  at  the  steamboat  quay  low- 
er down  the  river.  The  County  Down  Railway  connects 
the  town  with  Belfast,  the  fair  towns  of  Crossgar,  Saint- 
field,  Ballynahinch,  Comber,  and  Newtownards,  and  is 
continued  from  Downpatrick  to  the  fashionable  bathing 
place  of  Newcastle.  The  line  to  the  port  of  Donaghadee 
was  completed  in  1862.  Market  days  Tuesday  and 
Saturday.  One  newspaper  is  published  in  the  town,  the 
Downpatrick  Recorder,  on  Saturday's. 

DROGHEDA  COUNTY  OF  THE  TOWN  AND 
BOROUGH. 

DROGHEDA,  a  maritime  county  of  a  town  and  Parlia- 
mentary borough,  in  Leinster  province;  situate  between 
Meath  and  Louth  counties,  and  31^  miles  N.  from  Dub- 
lin by  railway,  comprising  an  area  of  9  square  miles,  or 
5,780  acres.  Population  of  the  municipal  borough  13,510, 
inhabiting  3,222  houses.  The  town  is  situate  on  the 
Boy ne,  4  miles  from,  the  sea.  The  public  buildings  are 
three  Protestant  Churches,  two  Roman  Catholic  Churches, 
three  Friaries,,  four  Nunneries,  a  Presbyterian  and  a 
Methodist  Meeting  House,  an  Endowed  Scho  >l,the  Man- 
sion Tholsel,  Town  Prison,  Linen  Hall,  Custom  House, 
Inland  Revenue  office,  Corn  Market,  Savings  Bank,  and 
Infantry  Barracks,  capable  of  accomodating  400  men. 
The  linen  manufacture,  after  flourishing  here  for  some 
time,  gave  way  to  that  of  cotton,  which  in  turn  was  super- 
seded by  flax  spinning,  but  both  the  latter  are  now  car- 
ried on  to  a  great  extent.  A  large  cotton  factory  has 
been  erected  by  Benjamin  Whitworth,  who,  at  his  sole 


GAZETTEER  OF  IRELAND.  301 

expense,  has  built  a  spacious  and  handsome  town  hall. 

The  same  gentleman  has  contributed  half  the  cost  of 
new  waterworks,  by  which  means  800,000  gallons  of  the 
purest  water  will  be  conveyed  to  the  town  daily.  Three 
flax  mills  give  employment  to  upwards  of  1,000  persons  ; 
that  called  St.  Mary's,  which  is  the  largest,  cost  £50,000 
for  its  erection.  There  are  six  corn  mills,  five  silt  works, 
two  breweries,  eight  tanneries,  and  four  soap  works.  The 
iron  works  of  Grendon  &  Co.  give  employment  to  up- 
wards of  300  persons  in  the  manufacture  of  steam  engines, 
boilers,  iron  bridges,  etc.  Cairnes'  brewery  is  celebrated 
for  the  excellence  of  its  ale,  which  is  largely  exported  to 
the  colonies.  The  corporation  consists  of  six  aldermen 
and  eighteen  town  counselors,  elected  from  three  wards. 
The  town  returns  one  member  to  Parliament ;  constitu- 
ency 697.  Rateable  value  of  property,  £^7,988;  borough 
receipts,  £>,670  ;  expenditure  for  paving,  lighting,  etc., 
£3,245.  The  cattle  market  is  held  on  Thursday  and  corn 
market  on  Saturday. 

Drogheda  carries  on  a  considerable  trade,  chiefly  with 
Liverpool.  The  exports  are  principally  corn  meal,  flour, 
cattle,  provisions,  linen,  etc.  The  harbor,  formed  by  the 
waters  of  the  Boyne  4  miles  from  the  sea,  extends  about 
a  half  a  mile  below  the  bridge  with  16  to  18  feet  of 
water  abreast  the  quays,  at  which  vessels  of  400  tons  can 
moor;  the  tide  flows  up  as  far  as  old  bridge  2^  miles 
above  the  town,  from  whence  the  Boyne  navigation  for 
barges  of  50  tons  extends  inland  to  Navan,  19  miles. 
The  port  and  harbor  are  under  commissioners.  Harbor 
receipts  are  £3,606.  The  number  of  vessels  entered  in- 
wards in  '73  was  707  tonnage,  115,673  cleared  outwards, 
45  of  5,231  tons.  At  the  entrance  of  the  harbor  are  3 
light-houses,  2  of  which  are  movable  according  to  the 
changes  in  the  bar.  The  Dublin  and  Drogheda  Railway 
was  opened  for  traffic  in  1844,  and  Drogheda  has  direct 
communication  to  Enniskillen,  Londonderry,  Belfast, 
Navan,  Kells,  and  Oldcastle.  A  magnificent  viaduct  95 
feet  in  height,  across  the  river  Boyne,  connects  the 
Drogheda  Belfast  Junction  Railways.  Two  newspapers 
are  published  in  the  town,  the  Drogheda  Argus  and 
Drouheda  Conservative. 


302  GAZETTEER  OF  IRELAND. 

DUNDALK  BOROUGH. 

DrjjSTDALK,  a  maritime  town  and  Parliamentary  bor- 
ough in  upper  Dundalk  harony,  Louth  county  and 
Leinster  province,  50  miles  N.  from  Dublin,  comprising 
an  area  of  1,411  acres;  population,  11,377.  The  town- 
ship of  Dundalk  has  an  area  of  1,380  acres  and  a  popula- 
tion of  11,327.  It  is  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  small 
river  of  Castletown,  on  the  coast  of  Dundalk  Bay.  The 
public  buildings  are  the  Parish  Church,  3  Ho  in  an  Catholic 
churches,  a  Friary  Convent  and  Schools,  Presbyterian 
and  Methodist  MeetingHouses,  the  County  Court  House, 
and  Prison  Union  Work-house,  Infirmary,  Market  House, 
Butter  Crane  buildings,  Incorporated  Society's  School, 
Endowed  Grammar  School,  Erasmus  Smith  Schools,  St. 
Mary's  College,  Christian  Brothers'  School,  and  Cavalry 
barracks.  The  Exchange  Building  contains  the  town 
hall,  free  public  library  and  reading  room  with  spacious 
public  offices.  The  sum  of  £8,000  has  been  expended 
on  the  erection  of  these  buildings,  which  are  now  the 
property  of  the  town  commissioners.  There  are  in  the 
town  a  distillery,  brewery,  flax  and  jute  spinning-mill, 
flour-mills,  salt  works,  ship  building  and  tan  yards. 

The  borough  returns  one  member  to  Parliament;  con- 
stituency 541;  rateable  value  of  property  £19,615.  The 
lighting,  cleaning,  and  watching  of  the  town  is  vested 
in  commissioners  under  the  Towns  Improvement  Act. 
Borough  rates  levied  £1,261;  expenditures  £1,019;  debt 
£2,200;  harbor  revenue  £8,561;  market  day  Monday. 
The  port  and  harbor  on  which  £22,150  has  been  expended 
which  is  in  charge  of  commissioners  under  act  3  and  4, 
vie.  c.  119  since  1837,  is  in  progress  of  improvement. 
Railway  communication  is  complete  to  Belfast,  and  the 
Irish  North- Western  Railway  line  is  extended  from  Dun- 
dalk to  Enniskillen  and  Londonderry,  and  from  Dun- 
dalk to  Cootehill,  and  from  Dundalk  via.  Clones,  to  Ca- 
van,  Mullingar,  Ballinasloe,  and  Galway,  and  thereby  con- 
necting the  Western  and  North- Western  counties  with 
the  port.  A  line  of  railway  from  Dundalk  to  Greenore 
harbor,  in  Carlingford  Lough,  was  opened  in  1873,  and  a 


GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND.  303 

special  service  of  steam  packets  to  and  from  Holyhead, 
organized  by  the  London  and  North-  Western  Railway 
company,  and  through-booking  of  passengers  and  goods 
brought  in  operation  to  and  from  all  the  chief  stations  on 
that  company's  lines  in  England  to  those  of  the  Irish 
North-Western,  the  Dublin  and  Belfast  Junction,  and 
Ulster  Railway  companies.  Large  quantities  of  farm 
produce  and  live  stock  are  exported  by  the  steamers  of 
the  Dundalk  Steam  Packet  Company,  which  ply  four 
times  a  week  to  Liverpool.  The  number  of  vessels  en- 
tered inwards  in  1873  was  829,  of  144,850  tons;  cleared 
outwards  392,  of  103,930  tons.  The  imports  consist  of 
timber  andiron,  jute,  Indian  corn,  flour,  groceries,  &c. 
There  are  three  newspapers  in  the  town.  The  Newry 
Examiner,  published  on  Wednesday  and  Saturday,  the 
Democrat,  published  on  Saturday,  and  the  Duudalk 
Herald,  published  on  Saturday. 

DUNGANNON  BOROUGH. 


r,  an  inland  town  and  Parliamentary  bor- 
ough in  Dungannon  barony,  Tyrone  county,  and  Ulster 
province  ;  94£  miles  N.  N.  W.  from  Dublin,  comprising 
an  area,  according  to  its  ancient  chartered  boundary,  of 
830  acres,  and  to  its  modern  parliamentary  boundary,  of 
230  acres  ;  population  3,886  ;  inhabiting  727  houses.  It 
is  situate  on  the  acclivity  of  a  hill,  at  a  distance  of  8  miles 
from  Lough  Neagh,  and  consists  of  a  square  and  several 
streets.  The  public  buildings  are  the  Parish  Church,  Ro- 
man Catholic  Church,  two  Presbyterian  and  two  Methodist 
Meeting  Houses,  Court  House,  Bridewell,  Market  House, 
the  offices  of  Belfast  Banking  Co.,  Provincial  and  Savings 
Bank,  Union  Work  House,  Temperance  Hall,  Fever  Hos- 
pital, Shield's  Alms  Houses,  Endowed  School,  Dungan- 
non  Institute,  and  the  Earl  and  Countess  of  Ranfurly's 
School.  The  town  is  lighted  with  gas.  The  markets  have 
been  enlarged  arid  improved  by  the  Earl  of  Ranfurly,  who 
on  coming  of  age,  offered  building  leases  for  999  years 
at  moderate  rents.  Linens  are  manufactured,  and  also 
coarse  earthenware,  fire-brick  and  tile  works  ;  there  are 


304  GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND. 

flax  spinning  mills  and  a  corn  mill  in  the  town.  Dickson 
&  Co.,  the  proprietors  of  the  corn  and  flour  mills,  have 
erected  an  extensive  power-loom  weaving  factory  on  the 
site  of  the  old  distillery,  and  also  a  number  of  mechanics 
and  workmen's  dwelling  houses.  The  borough  returns 
one  member  to  Parliament  ;  constituency  340.  Rateable 
value  of  property,  £7,629;  poor  and  sanitary  ratos,  £636; 
town  rates  levied,  £238  ;  expemliiure,  £200.  The  gen- 
eral market  is  on  Thursday,  and  that  for  grain  oil  Mon- 
day and  Thursday. 


DUNGARVAN  BOROUGH. 


a  maritime  town  and  Parliamentary 
borough  in  Decies  without  Drum  barony,  Waterford 
county,  and  Munster  province,  125  jmiles  S.  W.  from 
Dublin;  comprising  an  area  of  8,499  acres,  of  which  392 
are  in  the  town  and  8,107  in  the  rural  district;  popula- 
tion, 7,719,  inhabiting  1,538  houses.  The  town  is 
situated  on  the  Bay  of  Dungarvan,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
river  Colligan,  which  divides  it  into  two  portions  con- 
nected by  a  bridge  and  causeway;  the  eastern  is  called 
Abbeyside.  The  public  buildings  are  the  Town  Hall, 
the  Provincial  Bank  —  a  fine  structure  with  granite  front 
—  the  National  and  Munster  Banks,  the  Parish  Church,  2 
Roman  Catholic  Churches,  2  Convents,  1  Monastery,  a 
Fever  Hospital,  Sessions  House,  Union  Workhouse, 
Market  House,  and  millitary  barracks.  There  is  also  a 
steammill  and  2  breweries.  A  line  of  railway  is  in  course  of 
construction  between  Dungarvan,  Waterford  and  Lisrnore. 
The  exports  are  chiefly  grain,  butter  and  cattle.  Gas 
works  have  been  established  and  the  town  is  well  lighted. 
There  are  two  weekly  markets  for  the  sale  of  butter,  on 
Tuesday  and  Saturday.  The  borough  returns  1  member 
to  Parliament;  constituency  340.  Rateable  valuation 
£14.948;  borough  rates  levied  in  '75,  £214;  expenditure 
£358;  debt  £374;  harbor  revenue  £288. 


GAZETTEER  OF  IRELAND.  305 

EXNIS  BOROUGH. 

ENNIS,  an  inland  town  and  Parliamentary  borough  in 
Islands  barony,  Clare  county,  and  Munster  province,  141 
miles  W.  S.  W.  from  Dublin,  comprising  an  area  of  484 
acres;  population  6,503;  situated  on  the  Fergus,  which  is 
crossed  by  four  bridges.  The  public  buildings  are  the 
Parish  Church,  the  Roman  Catholic  Cathedral  of  Killaloe 
diocese,  Methodist  Meeting  House,  Presbyterian  Chapel, 
Franciscan  Friary,  the  Convent  of  Mercy,  with  an  Or- 
phanage and  Industrial  School  attached,  Ennis  College, 
Erasmus  Smith's  foundation,  the  Killaloe  Roman  Cath- 
olic Diocesan  College,  a  National  School,  County  Court 
House,  erected  at  a  cost  of  £12,000,  Fever  Hospital,  In- 
firmary Prison,  Union  Work  House  and  Market  House; 
a  Public  Library  has  been  erected;  also  a  bridge  over 
the  river  Fergus  at  Ennis  Mills.  The  Provincial  and 
National  Banks  have  erected  handsome  edifices.  There 
is  also  a  monument  to  O'Connell,  with  a  splendid  colossal 
statue  by  Cahill,  on  the  site  of  the  old  Court  House.  A 
Lunatic  Asylum  for  the  county  Clare  has  been  erected  at 
a  cost  of  £54,000,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  town.  There  are 
extensive  flour  mills,  but  no  manufactures  of  importance 
are  carried  on.  Grain,  flour  and  other  commodities  are 
conveyed  for  export  in  lighters,  for  shipment  to  Clare, 
two  miles  lower  down  the  river  Fergus.  Markets  on 
Saturday.  Large  fairs  are  held  in  a  commodious  walled- 
in  fair-green.  Races  are  held  in  the  neighborhood.  The 
borough  returns  1  member  to  Parliament;  constituency 
236;  rateable  value  of  property  £6,627.  The  cleaning1 
of  the  town  is  vested  in  18  commissioners,  under  the 
Towns  Improvement  Act.  Town  rates,  etc.,  levied  in 
1875,  £436;  expenditure  £409.  There  are  two  news- 
papers published  in  Ennis,  the  Clare  Journal,  established 
in  1776,  published  on  Monday  and  Thursday;  and  the 
Clare  Journal,  published  every  Saturday. 

ENN1SKILLEN  BOROUGH. 

ENNISKILT.EN,  an  inland  town  and  Parliamentary  bor- 
ough in  Magheraboy  and  Tyrkennedy  baronies,  Ferman- 
20 


306  GAZETTEER   OF    IRELAND. 

agh  county,  and  Ulster  province  ;  102  miles  N.  W.  from 
Dublin  ;  comprising  an  area  of  129  acres  ;  population 
5,836,  inhabiting  943  houses.  The  town  is  situate  on  an 
island  in  the  river  connecting  the  upper  and  lower  lakes 
of  Lough  Erne,  and  on  the  adjoining  mainland  on  both 
sides,  which  communicate  with  each  other  by  2  bridges. 
The  public  buildings  are  the  Parish  Church,  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  Presbyterian  and  two  Methodist  Meet- 
ing Houses,  County  Court  House,  Prison,  Infirmary,  Town 
Hall,  Royal  and  National  Model  Schools,  Union  Work 
House  and  two  Barracks.  There  is  a  tannery  and  market 
for  pork,  corn  and  butter.  Flax  market  on  Thursday, 
butter  and  pork  market  on  Tuesday.  There  is  a  Railway 
to  Bundoran,  a  favorite  watering  place  on  the  Donegal 
coast,  distant  32  miles.  An  act  was  passed  in  1873  to 
extend  the  line  23  miles,  to  join  the  Midland  Railway  at 
Sligo.  The  borough  revenue  was  £2,706,  expenditure 
£2,876,  debt  £9,630.  The  borough  returns  1  member  to 
Parliament,  constituency,  408  ;  rateable  value  of  proper- 
ty £10,907.  Three  newspapers  are  published  in  the  town 
— the  Fermanagh  Mail,  Fermanagh  Reporter  ^  and  the 
Enniskillen  Advertiser. 

GALWAY  COUNTY  OF  THE  TOWN   AND  BOR- 
OUGH. 

GALWAY,  a  maritime  county  of  a  town  and  Parliamen- 
tary borough,  in  Connaught  province  ;  situate  on  the 
north  side  of  Galway  Bay,  and  bounded  on  every  other 
side  by  Galway  county,  130  miles  W.  from  Dublin;  com- 
prising an  area  of  24,132  acres  ;  population  19,843.  The 
town  built  on  both,  sides  of  the  river  that  discharges  the 
superfluous  waters  of  Lough  Corrib,  three  miles  distant, 
and  is  crossed  by  three  bridges,  consists  of  the  old  and 
new  towns,  and  the  suburb  of  Claddagh,  inhabited  wholly 
by  fishermen.  The  principal  buildings  are  the  Protestant 
Church,  three  Roman  Catholic  Churches,  three  Monaster- 
ies, five  Nunneries,  Presbyterian  and  Methodist  Meeting 
Houses,  the  county  and  town  Court  Houses  and  Prisons, 
the  County  Infirmary,  a  Fever  Hospital,  an  Endowed  and  a 


GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND.  307 

Charter  School,  the  Custom  House,  the  Union  Work-house, 
and  two  Barracks;  also  the  Queen's  College  and  two  Read- 
ing Rooms,  the  Royal  Gal  way  Institute,  and  the  Mechanic's 
Institute,  a  Model  School  on  the  national  system,  the  ter- 
minus of  the  Midland  Great  Western  Railway,  at  which 
is  opened  a  large  hotel  and  the  County  Club  House. 
The  town  is  governed  by  the  high  sheriff,  recorder, 
local  magistrate  and  a  board  of  twenty-four  commission- 
ers, elected  tri-annually,  who  have  charge  of  the  property 
of  the  town  arising  from  tolls,  etc.,  which  was  £2,172  ; 
expenditure  £2,312.  It  returns  two  members  to  Parlia- 
ment ;  constituency  1,445.  Rateable  value  of  property 
£32,469.  The  Bay  of  Galway  is  an  immense  sheet  of 
water,  protected  from  the  swell  of  the  Atlantic  by  the 
natural  breakwater  of  the  Arran  Isles,  and  possessing 
great  advantages  for  foreign  trade,  particularly  to  Amer- 
ica. The  entrance  of  the  bay  is  marked  by  two  lights, 
one  on  the  South  Island  entrance  of  the  South  Channel, 
and  one  on  Rock  Island  in  North  Channel;  the  South  Is- 
land light  is  fixed,  the  other  revolves.  Arranmore  Island, 
498  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  was  the  port  light- 
house, it  is  now  on  a  rock  at  a  convenient  height  above 
the  level  of  the  sea.  Harbor  receipts,  £2,160  15s.  9d.; 
the  number  of  vessels  entered  inwards  in '73,  was  197,  of 
35,013  tons;  cleared  outwards  146,  of  22,726  tons.  The 
exports  consist  chiefly  of  agricultural  produce,  wool  and 
marble.  Beautiful  black  marble  slabs  of  large  size  are 
exported  to  London  and  America  ;  mills  for  sawing  and 
polishing  are  in  the  town.  There  are  two  newspapers 
published  here,  the  Vindicator  and  Express. 

There  is  an  extensive  line  of  quay  wall,  and  a  canal 
runs  from  the  harbor  through  the  town  to  Lough  Corrib 
and  Lough  Mask.  There  are  a  brewery,  distillery,  paper 
mill,  foundry,  tanyard,  several  flour  mills,  a  clog  factory, 
and  a  bag  factory  in  the  town  and  vicinity.  Salmon  and 
sea  fish  are  abundant.  The  Midland  Great  Western 
Railway  extends  from  Dublin  to  Galway. 


308  GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND. 


KILKENNY  COUNTY  OF  THE  CITY. 

KILKENNY,  an  inland  county  of  a  city  and  Parliamen- 
tary borough,  in  Leinster  province,  73  miles  S.  W. 
from  Dublin,  the  Parliamentary  borough,  comprising  an 
area  of  17,012  acres,  of  which  921  are  in  the  city,  and 
16,091  in  the  rural  district;  population  15,748,  inhabiting 
2,854  houses.  The  municipal  borough  contains  only  921 
acres,  and  14,174  people,  inhabiting  2,290  houses.  The 
town,  built  on  the  river  Nore,  which  is  crossed  by  two 
bridges,  consists  of  two  parts,  the  Irish  and  English 
towns,  the  latter  of  which  still  retains  its  name,  while 
the  former  has  merged  into  that  of  Kilkenny.  The  prin- 
cipal buildings  are  the  Cathedral,  2  Parish  Churches, 
Roman  Catholic  Cathedral,  and  6  Roman  Catholic 
Churches,  2  Monasteries,  2  Convents,  Presbyterian  and 
Methodist  Meeting  Houses,  an  endowed  school  called  St. 
John's  College,  a  Roman  Catholic  College,  a  National 
Model  School,  and  5  ordinary  National  Schools,  County 
Court  House,  County  and  City  Prison  and  Infirmary,  a 
Fever  Hospital,  the  Tholsol  Union,  Workhouse,  Bar- 
racks, Banks,  etc.,  and  Kilkenny  Castle,  the  residence  of 
the  Marquis  of  Ormonde,  on  an  eminence  overlooking 
the  valley  of  the  Nore.  The  manufacture  of  blankets, 
coarse  woolens  and  linens,  has  declined.  Coal  and  black 
marble  are  raised  in  the  neighborhood;  the  latter  is  much 
used  for  chimney  pieces  and  ornamental  purposes.  There 
are  breweries,  tanneries  and  flour  mills  in  the  city  and  its 
vicinity.  There  were  formerly  2  municipal  corporations, 
that  of  the  English  town  or  city  of  Kilkenny,  possessing 
an  annual  revenue  of  upwards  of  £2,000,  and  that  of 
Irishtown  or  St.  Canice,  annual  revenue  £15 ;  but  by  the 
provisions  of  the  Municipal  Reform  Act,  they  are  amal- 
gamated, and  return  1  member  to  Parliament ;  constit- 
uency 696;  rateable  value  of  property  £33,196;  borough 
receipts  £4,773;  debt  £5,923;  expenditures  for  paving, 
lighting  and  cleansing  £4,734;  the  number  of  burgesses 
on  the  roll  for  1873  was  266;  markets  on  Wednesday 
and  Saturdays.  Three  newspapers  are  published  in  the 
town,  the  Moderator,  Journal  and  Kilkenny  Times. 


GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND.  309 

KINSALE  BOROUGH. 

KINSALE,  a  maritime  town  and  Parliamentary  borough, 
in  Kinsale  barony,  Cork  county,  and  Munster  province; 
177  miles  S.  W.  from  Dublin,  comprising  an  area  of  313 
acres;  population  7,050;  inhabiting  716  houses.  The 
town  is  built  partly  on  the  side  of  Compass  Hill,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river  Bandon,  which  is  crossed  by  a  ferry, 
and  also  by  a  bridge  about  two  miles  from  town.  Some 
of  the  streets  are  so  steep  as  not  to  admit  carriages.  The 
public  buildings  are  the  Parish  Church,  a  Roman  Catholic 
Chapel,  a  Convent,  Carmelite  Friary,  two  Methodist 
Meeting  Houses,  Town  Hall,  Prison  Work-House  Assem- 
bly rooms  and  Barracks.  It  is  supported  chiefly  by  the  re- 
sort of  summer  visitors  and  the  fisheries.  The  fishermen 
are  esteemed  the  most  skillful  of  any  in  Ireland,  both  in 
their  own  calling,  and  as  pilots.  Kinsale  is  the  principal 
station  of  an  extensive  fishing  company.  Kinsale  returns 
1  member  to  Parliament;  constituency  199;  rateable  val- 
uation £5,454;  the  corporation  revenue  in  '75  was  £458; 
expenditure  £583.  The  paving  and  cleansing  of  streets 
are  vested  in  15  commissioners  under  the  Towns  Improve- 
ment Act.  Kinsale  harbor  is  excellent,  having  6  or  8 
fathoms  water  and  capable  of  accommodating  300  sail  of 
vessels  at  a  cable's  length  from  the  shore,  and  14  feet  at 
low  ebb;  at  the  mouth  of  the  harbor  its  entrances  are 
protected  by  Charles  Fort,  now  a  barrack;  during  the 
war  it  was  frequently  visited  by  men-of-war  and  had  a 
government  dock,  but  since  the  peace  its  naval  impor- 
tance has  declined.  Its  commerce  is  checked  not  only 
by  its  proximity  to  the  port  of  Cork,  but  by  its  isolated 
situation.  There  is  a  railway  from  Cork  to  Kinsale. 
Fairs  are  held  on  the  3d  Wednesday  of  every  month. 

LIMERICK  COUNTY  OF  THE   CITY   AND  PAR- 
LIAMENTARY  BOROUGH. 

LIMERICK,  a  maritime  county  of  the  city  and  Parlia- 
mentary borough  in  Munster  province,  situated  at  the 
interior  extremity  of  the  estuary  of  the  Shannon,  be- 


310  GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND. 

tween  Limerick  and  Clare  counties,  119.1-  miles  W.  S.  W. 
from  Dublin;  the  county  of  the  city  comprising  an  area 
of  2,074  acres,  and  the  Parliamentary  borough  33,380 
acres;  population  of  the  county  of  the  city  39,353;  in- 
habiting 5,518  houses;  population  of  the  Parliamentary 
borough  49,980  persons;  inhabiting  7,157  houses.  The 
town  is  built  on  King's  Island  and  on  both  sides  of  the 
Shannon,  which  is  crossed  by  5  bridges,  one  of  which, 
the  Wellesley  bridge — a  magnificent  structure  crossing 
the  harbor — cost  £85,000;  the  Shannon  flowing  through 
it  in  a  broad  and  ample  stream,  offers  advantages  which 
few  towns  possess.  It  consists  of  the  English  and  Irish 
towns  and  Newtown-Pery.  The  principal  buildings  are 
the  Cathedral;  5  Protestant  Churches;  4  Parochial,  and 
4  Conventual  Roman  Catholic  Chapels;  5  Dissenting 
places  of  worship;  the  County  and  City  Court  House  and 
Prisons;  the  Custom  House;  Barrington's  Hospital; 
Fever  and  Lock  Hospital;  District  Lunatic  Asylum; 
Mount  St.  Vincent's  Orphanage;  Work-House;  Saving's 
Bank;  Chamber  of  Commerce;  Model  School;  Town 
Hall;  Flax  Factory;  Lace  Factory;  Corn  and  Butter 
Markets,  and  Barracks.  In  the  Limerick  lace  manufac- 
tory of  Forrest,  of  Dublin,  lace  is  made  of  the  finest  and 
most  costly  description.  There  are  distilleries,  breweries, 
tanneries,  foundries  and,  flour  mills.  A  patent  slip  for 
vessels  of  500  tons,  3  ship  building  slips,  and  a  floating 
dock  where  vessels  of  1,000  tons  can  discharge.  The 
new  graving  dock,  adjoining  the  floating  dock,  where 
vessels  of  1,500  tons  can  be  repaired,  is  now  finished  at 
a  cost  of  £20,000.  The  number  of  vessels  entered  in- 
wards in  1873  was  544,  of  125,578  tons;  cleared  outwards 
293,  of  72,437  tons.  The  corporation  consists  of  8 
aldermen  and  32  counselors,  elected  by  8  wards.  The 
revenue  of  the  city  in  1875,  from  borough  rates,  etc.,  was 
£19,346.  The  expenditure  for  paving,  cleansing,  light- 
ing, etc.,  was  £19,872.  Debt  £56,819.  The  borough 
returns  2  members  to  Parliament;  constituency  1,947; 
rateable  property,  value  £100,364.  The  harbor  at  the 
head  of  the  estuary  of  the  Shannon,  the  noblest  river  in 
the  kingdom,  extends  about  1,600  yards  in  length  and 


GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND.  311 

150  in  breadth,  with  from  2  to  9  feet  at  low  water  and 
19  at  spring  tides,  which  latter  enables  vessels  of  600 
tons  to  moor  at  the  quays.  Nearly  in  the  middle  of  .the 
harbor  the  Wellesley  bridge  crosses  and  has  a  portcullis 
for  admitting  vessels.  The  quayage  and  whari'age.  on 
which  there  are  five  cranes,  extend  1,600  yards,  and  cost 
£18,000  in  the  erection.  A  large  graving  dock  has  been 
built.  The  port  is  under  control  of  commissioners. 
Harbor  receipts  £8,586.  There  are  seven  newspapers 
published  in  the  city,  Limerick  Chronicle,  lAmtrit'k 
Reporter,  and  Vindicator,  Munster  N~ews,  Basscttfs 
Daily  Chronicle,  and  Guy's  General  Advertiser,  The 
great  Munster  fair  is  held  on  the  last  Thursday  and 
Friday  in  June,  and  the  last  Thursday  and  Friday  in 
October.  Markets  on  Wednesday. 

LISBURN  BOROUGH. 

LISBTJRN",  an  inland  and  Parliamentary  borough,  in 
Upper  Massereene  barony,  Antrim  county,  and  Ulster 
province  ;  72  miles  north  from  Dublin,  comprising  an 
area  according  to  its  manorial  boundary  of  231  acres,  of 
which  27  are  in  Down  county,  and  of  1,364  acres,  accord- 
ing to  its  municipal  boundary ;  population  of  the  Parlia- 
mentary borough  9,326,  inhabiting  1,583  houses.  The  town 
is  situate  on  the  Lagan — the  Lagan  navigation  and  the 
Ulster  railroad  from  Belfast  to  Armagh,  of  which  it  is  a 
station  on  the  Lagan.  Its  public  buildings  are  the  Par- 
ish Church,  used  as  the  Cathedral  of  the  diocese  of  Down 
and  Connor,  a  Chapel  of  Ease,  a  Roman  Catholic  Chapel, 
2  Presbyterian,  3  Methodist,  and  1  Quaker  Meeting 
Houses,  the  Infirmary  for  Antrim  County,  a  Court 
House,  Market  House,  Linen  Hall,  and  Union  Work 
House.  The  Castle  Gardens  are  open  as  a  place  of  re- 
creation. The  finer  kinds  of  linen,  particularly  damasks, 
linen  thread,  muslins,  and  diapers,  are  manufactured 
here.  The  borough  returns  1  member  to  Parliament; 
constituency,  611.  Rateable  value  of  property  £16,998; 
the  municipal  rates  levied  in  1875  amounted  to  £690. 
Markets  on  Tuesday. 


312  GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND. 

LONDONDERRY  COUNTY  OF  THE   CITY  AND 
PARLIAMENTARY  BOROUGH. 

LONDONDERRY,  a  maritime  city  arid  Parliamentary 
borough,  in  county  of  city  and  county  of  Londonderry 
and  Ulster  province,  144  miles  N.  N.  W.  from  Dublin, 
comprising  an  area  of  1,933  acres  within  its  municipal 
and  Parliamentary  boundary;  population  of  the  city,  25,- 
242.  The  city  is  situate  on  a  hill  119  feet  above  h:gh 
water,  projecting  into  the  western  side  of  river  Foyle, 
four  miles  from  its  opening  into  Lough  Foyle,  and  is  sur- 
rounded by  an  ancient  rampart  a  mile  in  circumference 
with  seven  gates,  beyond  which  the  buildings  have  been 
considerably  extended;  a  square  in  the  center  from  which 
four  of  the  principal  streets  diverge,  is  called  the  Dia- 
mond. The  river  is  crossed  by  an  iron  bridge  1,200  feet 
long,  connecting  the  city  with  the  village  of  Waterside. 
The  public  buildings  are  1  Cathedral,  4  Churches,  the 
Roman  Catholic  Cathedral,  2  Roman  Catholic  Churches, 
6  Presbyterian,  an  Independent,  Covenanters,  2  Meth- 
odist Meeting  Houses,  the  Episcopal  Palace,  Foyle  Col- 
lege, Magee  College,  Academical  Institution,  County  and 
City  Court  House,  Prison  Infirmary,  Gwyn's  Institution, 
Corporation  Hall,  Custom  House,  District  Lunatic  Asy- 
lum, Union  Work-House  and  Barrack.  In  one  of  the 
city  bastions  there  is  a  pillar  erected  in  memory  of  the 
Rev.  George  Walker,  Governor  of  the  city  during  the 
siege  in  1689.  There  are  several  flour  mills,  2  distilleries, 
3  breweries,  2  foundries  and  5  tan  yards,  with  several 
extensive  shirt  factories.  The  city  returns  1  member  to 
Parliament;  constituency  1833,  rateable  value  of  property 
£66,884.  The  Municipal  Government  is  vested  in  the 
Corporation,  which  consists  of  6  Aldermen  and  18  Coun- 
selors and  19  Borough  Magistrates,  appointed  by  the 
Lord  Lieutenant.  Revenue  from  borough  rates,  etc., 
£15,453;  expenditure  £16,156.  The  river  Foyle  possesses 
great  natural  advantages,  and  is  navigable  for  large  ves- 
sels up  to  the  city.  Harbor  receipts  £19,003;  expendi- 
ture £17,430;  debt  £138,951.  The  Londonderry  &  Ennis- 


GAZETTEER    OF    IEELAND.  313 

killen  Railway,  the  Coleraine  &  Derry  Railway,  and  the 
Londonderry  &  Lough  Swilly  Railway,  which  is  open  to 
Buncrana,  run  along  the  harbor  at  high- water  mark.  The 
salmon-fishery  of  Lough  Foyle  is  very  productive,  the 
greater  part  being  shipped  to  Liverpool.  Markets  every 
week-day;  flax  market  on  Tuesday;  also  cattle,  horse, 
and  two  grain  markets.  Four  newspapers  are  published 
in  the  city;  the  Journal,  Sentinel,  Standard,  and  weekly 
Journal. 

MALLOW  BOROUGH. 

MALLOW,  an  inland  town  and  Parliamentary  borough, 
in  Fermoy  barony,  the  E.  riding  of  Cork  county,  and 
Mupster  province  ;  150^  miles  S.  W.  from  Dublin  ;  com- 
prising an  area  of  313  acres  ;  population  4.165  ;  inhabit- 
ing 7T6  houses.  It  is  situate  on  the  N.  side  of  the  Black- 
water,  and  is  joined  by  a  bridge  of  three  arches  to  the 
suburb  of  Ballydaheen  on  the  S.  side,  which  forms  a  por- 
tion of  the  borough.  The  public  buildings  are  the  Parish 
Church,  a  Roman  Catholic  Chapel,  an  Independent  and 
two  Methodist  Meeting  Houses,  National  School-House, 
an  Infirmary,  Court  House,  Bridewell  Union  Work-House, 
Spa  House,  Barrack,  etc.  There  are  salt  works  and  tan- 
neries in  the  town,  and  several  extensive  flour  mills  in  the 
neighborhood.  The  borough  returns  one  member  to  Par- 
liament ;  constituency  6,246.  Rateable  value  of  property 
£6,478.  The  great  monthly  cattle  markets  are  held  on 
the  first  Tuesday  of  every  month,  and  corn  markets  on 
Tuesday  and  Friday.  The  Killarney  and  Fermoy  rail- 
ways join  the  Great  Southern  and  Western  at  this  sta- 
tion. 

NEW  ROSS  BOROUGH. 

NEW  Ross,  an  inland  town  and  Parliamentary  borough; 
partly  in  Bantry  barony.  Wexford  county,  and  partly  in 
Ida  barony,  Kilkenny  county,  and  Leinster  province,  83 
miles  S.  S.  W.  from  Dublin;  comprising  an  area  of  544 
acres;  being  the  i  Parliamentary  boundary  which  in- 


314:  GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND. 

eludes  Rosbercon;  population  6,772,  inhabiting  1,113 
houses.  The  town  is  situate  on  the  side  of  the  hill  over 
the  Barrow,  2  miles  below  its  junction  with  the  Nore. 
The  wooden  bridge  carried  away  by  ire  has  been  re- 
placed by  a  metal  one,  at  a  cost  of  £50,137,  to  be  raised 
off  the  counties  of  Wexford  and  Kilkenny;  in  the 
centre  is  a  swivel  pillar  on  which  a  portion  of  the  bridge 
is  turned  to  admit  vessels  on  each  side.  The  public 
buildings  are  2  Protestant  Churches,  2  Roman  Catholic 
Chapels,  a  Friary,  Nunneries,  Presbyterian  and  Metho- 
dist Meeting  Houses,  Fever  Hospital,  Dispensary  and 
Lying-in -Hospital,  TJnion  Workhouse,  Sessions  House, 
Bridewell,  Market  House  and  Barrack.  There  are 
breweries  and  tan  yards.  The  town  is  lighted  with  gas, 
and  there  are  2  news  rooms.  The  trade  of  the  port  is,  for 
want  of  railway  accommodation,  not  improving;  the 
landing  place,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  river,  10  miles 
above  its  junction  with  the  Suir,  where  new  quays  have 
been  erected  at  a  cost  of  about  £3,000,  is  from  200  to 
300  yards  wide,  with  depths  of  from  15  to  26  feet  at  low 
water.  A  brisk  trade  is  carried  on  by  the  Barrow,  which 
admits  vessels  of  600  tons  register  to  discharge  at  the 
quay  .at  all  times  of  the  tide  and  those  of  800  at  high 
springs.  Vessels  of  small  tonnage  can  proceed  beyond 
the  town  by  the  Nore  to  Inistiogue,  and  by  the  Barrow 
to  St.  Mullins,  and  barges  still  farther  to  Athy,  where 
the  junction  of  the  river  with  the  Grand  Canal  affords  a 
water  communication  with  Dublin  on  the  one  side  and 
Limerick  on  the  other.  The  number  of  vessels  entered 
inwards  in  1873  was  578;  tonnage  53,828;  cleared,  out- 
wards, 477;  tonnage  42,544.  Above  and  below  the  town 
there  is  a  salmon  fishery.  The  principal  exports  are 
grain,  flour,  wool,  butter,  fowl  and  bacon.  Town  rates, 
etc.,  levied  £1,028;  expenditure  £814;  harbor  revenue 
£926.  The  borough  returns  1  member  to  Parliament; 
constituency  218;  rateable  value  of  property  £7,782. 
Markets  on  Wednesday  and  Saturday;  butter  market  on 
Tuesdays  during  the  season. 


GAZETTEER  OF  IRELAND.  315 


NEWRY  BOROUGH. 

NEWRY,  a  maritime  town  and  Parliamentary  borough, 
in  the  barony  of  Newry  Lordship,  Down,  and  Armagh 
counties,  and  Ulster  province;  63  miles  N.  from  Dublin; 
comprising  within  the  Parliamentary  boundary  2,543 
acres,  of  which  629  are  in  the  town,  and  1,914  in  the  ru- 
ral district  ;  population  14,158;  inhabiting  2,540  houses. 
It  is  situated  near  the  mouth  of  the  Newry  Water,  which 
discharges  itself  into  Carlingford  Bay,  five  miles  from 
the  town;  there  are  8  bridges,  four  of  which  are  stone, 
and  cross  the  river  which  separates  the  counties  of  Armagh 
arid  Down;  the  others  are  drawbridges  over  the  canal. 
The  public  buildings  are  2  Protestant  churches,  2  Roman 
Catholic  Chapels,  one  of  which  is  the  Cathedral  of  St. 
Patrick's,  Dromore,  the  other,  the  Chapel  of  St  Mary's; 
4  Presbyterian,  1  Independent,  and  3  Methodist  Meeting 
Houses;  2  Convents,  2  Court  Houses,  2  Bridewells,  Cus- 
tom House,  Union  Work-house,  National  Model  School, 
Hospital  Savings  Bank,  and  spacious  Barracks.  The 
town  is  handsome  and  well  built,  of  stone;  the  streets 
regular  and  compact,  and  the  shops  neatly  fitted  up  and 
lighted  with  gas.  Handsome  markets  and  extensive  wa- 
ter works  have  recently  been  erected.  Along  the  quays 
are  large  and  well  built  warehouses;  there  are  several 
corn  and  flour  mills,  1  brewery,  10  tan  yards,  3  coach  and 
car  manufactories,  iron  and  brass  foundries,  spade  and 
shovel  manufactories,  and  3  large  spinning  mills  in  town. 
The  other  manufactures  are  linen,  yarn,  cotton,  salt,  iron, 
cordage,  etc.  The  paving,  lighting  and  cleansing  of  the 
streets  are  vested  in  18  commissioners;  the  rates  levied 
amounted  to  £10,814;  expenditure  £9,165;  debt  £40,000. 
The  borough  returns  1  member  to  Parliament;  constitu- 
ency 1,086;  rateable  value  of  property  £30,602.  Car- 
liiiv.ford  Lough  is  navigable  for  6  miles  by  vessels  of  the 
greatest  burden  at  all  times,  and  the  port  admits  vessels 
of  1,000  tons  to  Warrenpoint,  63-  miles  from  the  town 
where  the  larger  vessels  remain;  but  those  drawing  15 
feet  can  go  up  by  the  ship  canal  to  the  Albert  basin 
Newry,  a  distance  of  5  miles  from  the  sea.  A  commission 


316  GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND. 

has  been  appointed  for  improving  Lough  Carlingford, 
and  removal  of  the  bar;  the  estimated  cost  is  £80,000; 
Barges  ply  by  the  Newry  canal;  navigation  to  Lough 
Neagh,  32  miles  distant  inland;  the  Newry  Navigation 
Company  have  the  management  of  the  port  and  canal, 
the  latter  of  which  extends  along  the  west  side  of  the 
river.  The  income  of  the  port  amounts  to  £6,000  per 
annum;  the  number  of  vessels  entered  inwards  in  1873  was 
1,5,76;  tonnage  £265,970;  cleared  outwards  795;  tonnage 
£200,802;  the  principal  exports  are  grain,  provisions, 
cattle,  eggs,  flax,  linens,  and  butter.  The  Belfast 
Junction  Railway  passes  Avithin  1  mile  of  the  town  and 
with  the  Newry  and  Armagh,  and  the  Newry  Warren- 
point,  and  the  Rostrevor  Railway  greatly  facilitates  the 
trade  of  the  town.  The  Newry  and  Greenore  Railway 
connects  the  Newry  and  Armagh  line  with  the  deep 
water  harbor  of  Greenore  in  Carlingford  Lough.  Mar- 
kets on  Tuesday,  Thursday,  and  Saturday.  The  New- 
ry Commercial  Telegraph,  and  the  Newry  Iteporter, 
newspapers,  are  published  here. 

PORTARLINGTON   BOROUGH. 

PORT  ARLINGTON,  an  inland  town  and  Parliamentary 
borough,  partly  in  Portnahinch  barony,  Queen's  county, 
and  partly  in  Upper  Philipstown  barony,  King's  county, 
Leinster  province,  44£  miles  W.  S.  W.  from  Dublin, 
comprising  an  area  in  Queen's  county  of  500  acres;  pop- 
ulation 2,706,  inhabiting  537  houses.  The  town,  which 
stands  on  the  Barrow,  here  crossed  by  two  bridges,  had 
its  ancient  name  of  Cultordy  changed  into  its  present  by 
the  proprietor,  Lord  Arlington,  who  prefixed  the  term 
port  in  consequence  of  its  being  a  landing  place  on  the 
river.  The  public  buildings  are  two  Protestant  Churches, 
a  Roman  Catholic  Chapel,  a  Methodist  Meeting  House, 
and  a  Market  House.  A  branch  of  the  Grand  canal 
passes  near  it.  The  town  is  the  residence  of  many  re- 
spectable families,  some  of  which  are  descendants  of 
French  and  Flemish  refugees  settled  here  at  the  Restor- 
ation, when  the  town  took  its  rise.  Its  chief  manufac- 


GAZETTEER  OF  IKELAND.  317 

tures  are  malt,  soap  and  candles.  The  borough  returns 
one  member  to  Parliament;  constituency  141.  -Rateable 
value  of  property  £4,330.  Markets  on  Wednesday  and 
Saturday. 

SLIGO  BOROUGH. 

SLTGO,  a  maritime  town,  and  formerly  a  Parliamentary 
borough,  in  Carbury  barony,  Sligo  county,  and  Con- 
naught  province,  131  miles  N.  W.  from  Dublin,  compris- 
ing an  area  of  3,001  acres,  of  which  407  are  in  the  town, 
and  2,594  in  the  rural  district;  population  12,206.  It  is 
situate  near  the  mouth  of  the  Garrogue,  which  is  crossed 
by  2  bridges  and  discharges  itself  into  the  Sligo  Bay. 
The  public  buildings  are  the  Ulster  Bank,  a  Model  Na- 
tional School,  both  beautiful  edifices,  2  Churches,  a  Ro- 
man Catholic -Chapel,  1  Friary  or  Abbey  Church,  Pres- 
byterian, Independent,  and  2  Methodist  Meeting  Houses; 
County  Court  House,  Prison,  Infirmary,  a  Fever  Hospital, 
Union  Work  House,  and  a  Lunatic  Asylum,  the  latter 
standing  on  a  prominent  position  outside  the  town.  The 
Town  Hall  was  erected  in  18G6  ;  the  ground  floor  con- 
sists of  an  Exchange,  Free  Library  and  Reading  room, 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  Borough  Court  and  Council 
Chamber,  and  other  offices  ;  the  upper  floor  comprises  a 
large  Assemby  Room,  74  feet  by  32,  also  a  room  for  the 
Harbor  Commissioners,  Town  Clerks,  and  other  offices. 
To  defray  the  expense  a  sum  of  £2,700  was  granted 
from  the  reproductive  loan  fund  of  the  county,  and  the 
balance,  £2,300,  was  raised  by  voluntary  subscription. 
There  is  a  salmon  fishery  in  the  river,  the  property  of 
Capt.  Abraham  Martin.  The  corporation  consists  of  6 
Aldermen  and  18  Counselors,  elected  from  three  Wards. 
The  number  of  burgesses  on  the  roll  in  1872  was  352;  the 
revenue  of  the  borough  in  1875  was  £11,048.  The  ex- 
penditure for  paving,  cleansing,  lighting,  etc.,  was  £7,- 
949;  rateable  valuation  £17,975.  The  port  is  under  the 
control  of  Harbor  Commissioners,  elected  every  3  years. 
Harbor  receipts  £4,990,  15s.  8d.  The  number  of  vessels 
entered  inwards  was  528,  tonnage  78,124  ;  cleared  out- 


318  GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND. 

wards  474,  tonnage  65,200.  As  a  seaport,  Sligo  is  the 
most  important  on  the  north-west  coast  of  Ireland,  ex- 
porting annually  a  large  quantity  of  cured  provisions,  be- 
sides the  cattle  and  agricultural  produce  of  the  surrounding 
districts.  Its  trade  is  chiefly  carried  on  with  Liverpool, 
Glasgow  and  Londonderry,  two  steamers  leaving  weekly 
for  these  ports.  Three  newspapers  are  published  in  the 
town,  the  Sligo  Champion,  Sligo  Chronicle,  and  Sligo 
Independent,  every  Saturday.  Markets  on  Tuesday  and 
Saturday.  Fairs  on  27  March,  7  May,  4  July,  11  Aug- 
ust, 9  October,  and  also  first  Tuesday  in  each  month. 

TRALEE  BOROUGH. 

TRAI/EE,  a  maritime  town  and  Parliamentary  borough, 
in  Trughanacmy  barony,  Kerry  County,  and  Munster 
province,  181^-  miles  W.  S.  "W.  from  Dublin,  comprising 
an  area  of  512  acres  ;  population  9,506,  inhabiting  1,385 
houses.  The  town  is  situate  on  the  river  Lee,  about  a 
mile  from  Tralee  Bay,  an  inlet  of  Ballyheigue  Bay.  Its 
public  buildings  are  a  Church,  two  Roman  Catholic 
Churches,  and  Friary  Church,  two  Nunneries,  Monastery, 
with  School  attached,  Presbyterian,  Independent,  and 
Methodist  Meeting  Houses,  the  County  Court  House, 
Prison,  and  Infirmary,  Merchants'  Corn  Exchange,  Town 
Hall,  Railway  Station,  Union  Work-House,  and  Barracks. 
The  corporation  is  now  extinct,  and  its  property  vested 
in  the  Lighting  and  Cleansing  Commissioners.  The  Rev- 
enue of  the  Borough  was  £2,088  ;  expenditure  £2,625. 
The  Borough  returns  one  Member  to  Parliament;  con- 
stituency 322.  Rateable  value  of  property  £11,764.  A 
brisk  trade  in  grain,  flour,  bacon  and  butter,  is  carried 
on.  The  value  of  imports  is  £150,000  ;  exports  £200,000. 
Harbor  receipts  £1576,  7s.  lOd.  The  number  of  vessels 
entered  inwards  was  348,  tonnage  46,269  ;  cleared  out- 
wards 107,  tonnage  15,006.  By  tfie  ship  canal  vessels 
discharge  at  the  basin,  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  the 
town  ;  large  vessels  discharge  at  the  Samphire  Island,  8 
miles  westward.  Markets  on  Tuesday  and  Saturday. 
Two  newspapers  published  here — the  Chronicle  and  Ker- 
ry Evening  Post. 


GAZETTEER  OF  IRELAND.  319 

WATERFORD    COUNTY     OF    THE     CITY,  AND 
PARLIAMENTARY  BOROUGH. 

WATERFORD,  a  county  of  a  city, and  Parliamentary 
borough,  in  Munster  province,  97  miles  S.  S.  W.  from 
Dublin,  comprising  an  area  of  10,059  acres;  population, 
29,979,  inhabiting  4,558  houses.  The  city  is  the  south- 
west bank  of  the  Suir,  and  is  connected  Avith  its  north 
suburb  of  Ferrybank  by  a  wooden  bridge  of  39  arches, 
832  feet  long.  The  public  buildings  are  Cathedral,  two 
Parochial  Churches,  the  Roman  Catholic  Cathedral,  five 
Roman  Catholic  Chapels,  four  Convents,  Presbyterian, 
Baptist,  Independent,  Methodist,  and  Friend's  Meeting 
Houses,  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Palace,  Roman  Catho- 
lic College  of  St.  John's,  Diocesan,  District,  Model,  Na- 
tional, Blue  Coat  and  Christian  Brothers'  Schools,  the 
City  and  County  Court  Houses  and  Prisons,  District 
Lunatic  Asylum,  Fever  Hospital,  Union  Workhouse, 
Town  Hall,  Custom  House,  the  Savings  Bank,  Military 
Barracks,  and  Reginald's  Tower.  There  are  breweries, 
foundries,  and  several  flour-mills  in  the  neighborhood. 
The  corporation  consists  of  10  Aldermen  and  30  Counsel- 
ors, elected  from  the  five  wards.  The  number  of  burgesses 
on  the  roll  in  1863  was  709.  The  city  returns  two  mem- 
bers to  Parliament;  constituency  1,297.  Borough  re- 
ceipts £18.319.  Expenditures  for  lighting,  cleansing, 
paving,  &c.,  £17,967;  Debt,«£76,650.  The  net  annual 
value  of  property  under  the  tenant  Valuation  Act  is 
£53,214. 

Seven  newspapers  are  published  in  the  city — the  Mail, 
News,  Chronicle,  JVeics  Letter,  Standard,  Munster  Ex- 
press, and  Citizen.  Markets  on  Monday,  Wednesday, 
Thursday  and  Saturday.  The  harbor  of  Waterford  is 
formed  by  the  channel  of  the  Suir  from  the  city  to  its  con- 
fluence with  the  Barrow,  and  from  thence  by  the  joint 
estuary  of  these  rivers  to  the  sea,  a  distance  of  15  miles; 
the  entrance,  2£  miles  wide,  which  is  well  lighted  by  a 
bright  fixed  light  on  Hook  £ower,  139  feet  above  the  sea, 
and  by  a  red  light  on  Dunmore  pier,  46  feet  high,  and 
.  two  leading  lights  at  Duncannon,  also  a  light  on  the  Spit 


320  GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND. 

of  Passage.  Vessels  of  2,000  tons  can  discharge  at  the 
quays.  The  navigation  is  continued  in  the  Suir  by 
barges  to  Clonmel,  and  in  the  Barrow  by  sailing  vessels 
to  New  Ross,  and  thence  by  barges  up  that  river  to 
Athy,  and  up  the  Nore  to  Inistiogue.  On  the  Kilkenny 
side  of  the  river  there  is  a  ship  building  yard,  with  patent 
slip,  graving  bank  and  dock. 

Harbor  receipts,  £14,075.  16s.  7d.  The  exports  are 
almost  wholly  agricultural. 

WEXFORD  BOROUGH. 

WEXFORD,  a  maritime  town  and  Parliamentary  bor- 
ough, in  Forth  barony,  Wexford  county  and  Leinster 
province,  93  miles  S.  from  Dublin,  comprising  an  area  of 
483  acres;  population  12,077;  inhabiting  2,1 27  houses.  It 
is  situated  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Slaney,  where  that 
river  discharges  itself  into  Wexford  harbor.  Ai/ove  the 
town  the  river  is  crossed  by  a  bridge  1,500  feet  long. 
The  public  buildings  are  2  Protestant  Churches,  of  the 
Establishment;  3  Catholic  Chapels,  1  Friary.  5  Nunneries, 
Presbyterian,  Methodist,  and  Friends'  Meeting  Houses,  a 
Catholic  College,  National  and  Brothers'  Schools,  the 
County  Court  House,  Prison,  Infirmary,  and  Fever 
Hospital,  Town  Hall,  Union  Work  House,  a  Barrack  and 
Theater.  Connected  with  the  Mechanics'  Institute  and 
Literary  Society  is  an  interesting  museum  of  natural 
history,  etc.  The  manufacture  of  malt,  is  carried  on,  and 
the  herring,  oyster  and  salmon  fisheries  employ  many 
persons.  There  is  a  distillery,  3  breweries,  and  2  steam 
corn  mills.  It  returns  1  member  to  Parliament;  con- 
stituency 508;  rateable  value  of  property  £15,483.  The 
assizes  for  the  county  are  held  in  the  town.  The  cor- 
poration holds  a  Court  of  Conscience  for  sums  under  £2. 
Number  of  burgesses  183;  borough  receipts  £1,373;  ex- 
penditure (1875),  for  cleansing,  paving,  and  lighting, 
£1,360;  debt  £766. 

The  harbor  is  of  an  oblong  shape,  formed  by  the  estu- 
ary of  the  Slaney,  extending  eight  miles  from  north  to 
south,  or  parallel  with  the  coast,  and  four  miles  wide, 


GAZETTEER    OF    IRELAND.  321 

comprising  an  area  of  14,000  acres.  It  is  admirably 
situated  lor  commerce,  from  its  proximity  to  England, 
and  being  at  the  entrance  to  the  Irish  Channel;  but  those 
advantages  are  not  available  in  consequence  of  a  bar  at 
the  mouth  having  only  twelve  feet  of  water  at  high  tides, 
which  limits  the  traffic.  Harbor  receipts  £4,461.  The 
number  of  vessels  entered  inwards  in  1873  was  705; 
tonnage  7,927.  The  quays  extend  3,000  feet,  and  there 
is  a  dock  yard  and  patent  slip.  Important  facilities  for 
commerce  will  soon  be  afforded  by  the  completion  of  the 
pier  at  Rosslare,  in  the  South  bay  of  Wexford,  which 
will  admit  large  vessels  lying  along  side  at  low  water. 
A  line  of  railway  connecting  the  pier  with  the  town  of 
Wexford  and  the  railway  system  of  the  country,  has  been 
completed.  Four  newspapers  are  published  here,  the 
Constitution,  Independent,  People,  and  County  Wexford 
Express.  Markets  on  Wednesday  and  Saturday. 

YOUGHAL  BOROUGH. 

YOUGHAT,,  a  maritime  town  and  Parliamentary  borough, 
in  Imokelly  barony,  Cork  county,  and  Munster  province; 
157  miles  southwest  from  Dublin;  comprising  an  area  of 
345  acres;  population,  0,081,  inhabiting  1,070  houses. 
It  is  situate  on  the  acclivity  of  a  hill,  on  the  west  side  of 
the  estuary  of  the  Blackwater,  over  which  river  there  is 
a  wooden  bridge,  1,787  feet  long.  The  public  buildings 
are  2  Churches  of  the  Establishment,  a  Catholic  Chapel, 
two  Convents,  Independent,  Methodist  and  Friends' 
Meeting  Houses,  Fever  Hospital  and  Dispensary,  Town 
House,  in  which  are  Assembly  rooms,  a  Prison  and  a 
Barrack,  etc.  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  residence,  now 
called  Raleigh's  House,  is  still  maintained  nearly  in  its 
original  state.  Coarse  earthenware  and  bricks  are  man- 
ufactured. The  salmon  fishery  of  the  Blackwater  is 
very  extensive.  The  number  of  vessels  registered  259; 
tonnage  21,883;  the  paving,  lighting  and  cleansing  the 
streets  is  vested  in  twenty-one  commissioners;  the  rev- 
enue (1875)  £2.563;  expenditure  £2,588;  debt  £4,076; 
rateable  value  of  propertv  £9,540.  It  returns  one  mem- 
21 


322  GAZETTEER    OF    IRELAND. 

her  to  Parliament;  constituency  257.  The  exports  prin- 
cipally grain,  flour  and  provisions.  A  fair  is  held  on  the 
first  Monday  in  every  month. 


ECCLESIASTICAL   DIVISIONS. 

PROVINCE  OF    ARMAGH. 

Comprising  the  Dioceses  of  Armagh,  with  the  eight  Suf- 
fragan Dioceses,  of  Meath,  Derry,  Clogher,  Raphoa, 
Down  and  Connor,  Kilmore,  Ardagh,  and  Dro- 
more. 

I. DIOCESE    OF    ARMAGH. 

Including  the  entire  County  of  Louth,  almost  the  whole 
of  Armagh,  a  great  part  of  Tyrone,  and  a  part  of 
Derry. 

PARISHES. — Armagh,  Dundalk,  Arboe,  Ardee,  Ard- 
trea,  Aghaloo,  Ballinderry,  Ballymakenny,  Ballymacnab, 
Beragh,  Carlingford,  Clogher,  Clonoe,  Clonfeacle,  Collon, 
Coagh,  Cooley,  Creggan  L.,  Creggan  U.,  Darver,  Derry- 
noose,  Desertcreight  and  Derryloran,  Donaghmore,  Dro- 
inintee  or  Forkhill,  Dundalk,  Dungannon,  Dunleer, 
Eglish,  Erigalkeiran,  Foghart,  Forkhill,  Kilcurley,  Kil- 
dress,  Kiileighthill,  Killevy  U.,  Killevy  L.,  Kilmore,  Kil- 
ran,  Knockbridge,  Lordship,  Loughall,  Loughgilly,  Louth, 
Lissan,  Magherafelt,  Ardtree  N.,  Pomeroy,  Portadown, 
Stewartstown,  Tallanstown,  Tanderagee,  Termon,  Ter- 
monmaguist,  Termoni'eckin,  Togher,  Tullyallen,  Tynan, 
Ciogherrey,  St.  Peter's,  Drumglass,  Killyrnan,  Tulleynis- 
kin. 

II. DIOCESE      OF     MEATH. 

Includes  Meath,  Westmeath,  the  greater  part  of  Kin  (ft? 

County,  and  a  small  portion  of  Longford  and  of 

Cavan. 

PARISHES. — Mullingar,  Navan,  Ardcath.  Athboy,  Bally- 
more,  I?  llynacargy,  Balliver,  Batterstown,  Blacklion, 
Bohermein  and  Cortown,  Carolanstown,  Carnaros^, 


•    GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND.  323 

Castle  Jordan,  Castlepollard,  Castletown,  Kilpatrick,  Cas- 
tletowndelvin,  Castletown-geoghegan,  Clara,  Clonmellon, 
Collinstown,  Crosses,  Curraha,  Drogheda,  St.  Mary's, 
Drumcondra,  Drumraney,  Duleek,  Dunderry,  Dysart, 
Grangegeeth^  Kells,  Kilberry,  Kilbride,  Killucan,  Kings- 
court,  Kilskeere,  Longwood,  Moyvore,  Monalvy,  Navan, 
Oldcastle,  Killina,  Ratoath,  Kosnaree,  Summerhill,  Trim, 
Tubber,  Turbotstown,  Dunboyne,  Dunshaughlin,  Eglish, 
Frankford,  Johnstown,  Kilkenny,  West,  Kilbeggan, 
Kildalkey,  Kilmeson,  Kinnegad,  Lobinstown,  Milltown, 
Moynalty,  Multifarnham,  Nobber,  Rahan,  or  Rathmolion, 
Rochfortbridge,  Skryne,  Slane,  Stamullen,  Tullamore, 
Turin,  Moynalty,  Churchtown,  Kildorkey,  Kilbeggan. 

III. DIOCESE  OF  DERRY. 

Includes  nearly  the  ichole  of  Londonderry,  part  of  Don- 
egal, and  a  large  portion  of  Athlone. 
PARISHES. — Templemore,  Ardstraw  E.,  Ardstraw  W., 
Bodoney  U.,  Bodoney  L.,  Ballymacreen,  Ballyscullion, 
Balteagh,  Drumachose,  and  Aghanlos,  Banagher,  and  part 
of  Bovevagh,  Burt  and  Inch,  Cappagh,  Cloncha,  Clonleigh, 
Camrus,  Clonmany,  Culdaff,  Cumber  U.  and  Learmont, 
Dysertegny,  and  L.  Fahan,  Desertmartin,  and  Kilcro- 
naghan,  Donagh,  Donagheady,  and  Leckpatrick,  Donagh- 
more,  Drumragh,  Dunboe,  Macosquin,  and  Aghadooweny, 
Dungiven,  and  part  of  Bovegagh,  Errigle,  Faughanvale, 
Glendermott,  and  Lower  Cumber,  Iskaheen,  Kilrea,  and 
Desertoghill,  Longfield,  Maghera,  Moville  U.  and  L., 
Tamlaght  O'Crilly,  Tamlaght,  Ard,  Termoneeney,  and 
part  of  Maghera,  Termonamongan,  Urney. 

IV. — DIOCESE   OF   CLOGHER. 

Includes  Monaghan,  almost  the  whole  of  Fermanagh, 
a  large  portion  of  Tyrone,  with  portion  of  Donegal 
and  Louth. 

PARISHES. — Clontibert,  Monaghan,  Aughabog,  Augna- 
mullen  E.,  Augnamullen  W.,  Black  Bog,  Brookborough, 
Carrickmacross,  Cleenish,  Clogher,  Clones,  Currin, 


324:  GAZETTEER    OF    IRELAND. 

Derrygonnelly,  Donacavy,  Donagh,  Donaghmoyne, 
Dromore,  Drummully,  Drumsnat  and  Kilmore,  Ematris, 
Enniskillen,  Errigle  Truagh,  Garrison,  Inniskeen,  Innis- 
macsaint,  Killaney,  Killeevan,  Killskerry,  Magheraeloone, 
Maguire's  Bridge,  Muckno,  Pettigo,  Rosslea,  Tempo, 
Tullycorbet,  Tydavnet,  Tyholland,  Whitehill. 

V. DIOCESE  OF  EAPHOE. 

Includes  nearly  the  whole  of  Donegal  except  the  Barony 

of  Inishowen. 

PARISHES. — Conwal  and  Leek,  Allsaints  Raymochy, 
Taughboyne,  Ardara,  Aughnish  and  Aughaninshin,  Clon- 
dahorky,  Clondavadog,  Drimholme,  Gartan,  Glencolum- 
kille,  Inishkeel,  Inver,  Kilbarron,  Kilcar,  Killymard, 
Kilteevouge,  Killebegs  and  Killaghtee,  Killegarven  and 
Tally,  Kilmacrenan,  Lettermacaward,  Mevagh,  Raphoe, 
Stranorlar,  Tawnawilly,  Templecrone  and  Arranmore 
Island,  Tullaghbegley-east,  Raymunterdony  and  Tory 
Island,  Tullaghbegley-west. 

VI. DIOCESES   OF   DOWN   AND    CONNOR. 

PARISHES. — St.  Peter's,  FalFsroad,  St.  Mary's,  Chaner- 
lane,  St.  Patrick's,  Donegal,  St.  Malachy's,  Alfred  St.,  Bal- 
lymacarret,  Ahoghill,  Ards  Lower,  Armoy,  Aghagallon, 
Bailee  and  Ballyculter,  Ballycastle,  Ballygalget,  Bally- 
mena,  Ballymoney,  Bright,  Bryansford,Carrickfergus,  Col- 
eraine,  Culfeightrin,  Cushendall,  Derryaghy,  Down,  Drum- 
maul,  Duncane,  Duiiloy,  Dunsford,  Glenarm,  Glenavy, 
Glenravil  or  Skerry,  Greencastle,  Holywood,  Innispollan 
or  Cushenden,  Kilclief,  Kilcoo,  Kilmegan,  Kilmore,  Lome, 
Lisburn,  Loughan  island,  Loughgiel,  Mourne  Lower, 
Mourne  Upper,  Newtownards,  Portaferry  or  Ballyphilip, 
Portglenone,  Portrush,  Rasharkan,  Rathlin  Island  or 
Saintfield,  Saul,  Tyrella. 

VII. — DIOCESE    OF    KILMORE. 

Includes  nearly  all  of  Cavan  and  parts  of  Leitrim  and 
Fermanagh. 
PARISHES. — Urney    and  Aunageliff,  Castlerahan  and 


GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND.  325 

Muntercon  naught,  Anna,  Ballaghameehan,  Ballina- 
cleragh,  Ballinamore,  Ballintemple,  Carrigallen,  Castle- 
tara,  Crosserlough,  Denn,  Drumgoon,  Drumlane,  Drum- 
lease,  Drumreilly  Upper,  Drumreilly  Lower,  Drung, 
Glenade,  Glenfarn,  Glengevlin,  Innismagrath,  Kildallen, 
and  Toraregan,  Kiilinagh,  Killiann,  Killargy,  Killasnet, 
Killesher,  Killeshandra,  Killinkere,  Kilmore,  Kilsher- 
dany,  Kinawley,  Kinlough,  Knockbride,  Knockninny, 
Laragh,  Lavey,  Lurgan,  Moyholoiigue  and  Kilmainham, 
Mullagb,  Templeport. 

VIII. DIOCESE  OF  AKDAGH. 

Includes  nearly  all  of  Longford,  the  greater  part  of 
Leitrim,  and  portions  of  King's  county^  Westmeath, 
JRoscommon,  Cavan  and  Sligo. 

PARISHES. — Templemichael  and  Ballymacormac,  Bally- 
loughloe  and  Kilcleigh  or  Moate  Calry,  Abbelara,  Anna- 
duif,  Ardagh  and  Moydow,  Aughavass,  Ballymahon,  or 
Shrule,  Bornacoola,  Cashel,  Clonbroney,  Clongish,  Clon- 
gish,  Clonmacnoise,  Cloone,  Cluan  a  Donald  and  Killa- 
shee,  Columbkille,  Dromard,  Drumlish,  Drumlummon 
North  and  Loughdruff,  Drumlummon  South  and  Bally- 
mac  Hugh,  Fenagh,  Gallen  and  Reynagh,  Gortleteragh, 
Granard,  Kilcommogue,  Kilglass  or  Lagan,  Killenumera 
and  Killery,  Killoe,  Kilronan,  Kiltoghert,  Kiltubbrid 
Mary's  St.,  Maustrim,  Milane  and  Ballynahown,  Mohill, 
Murhane,  RathaspicandRussagh,  Rathcline,  Scrabby  and 
Columbskille  East,  Street,  Tashing,  Taghshiney  aud  Ab- 
beyderg,  Wheera  and  Tisaron. 

IX. DIOCESE    OP.  DBOMORE. 

Includes  parts  of  the  counties  of  Down,   Armagh,  and 

Antrim. 

PARISHES. — Newry,  Aghaderg,  Armaclone,  Banbridge, 
Clonallen,  Clonuff,  Dromara,  Dromgoolan  Lower,  Drom- 
goolan  Upper,  Dromore,  Drumgath,  Dunmore,  Glenn, 
Kilbroney,  Lurgan,  Maheralin,  Seagoe,  Tullyish. 


326  GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND. 

PROVINCE  OF  DUBLIN. 

Comprising  the  dioceses  of  Dublin,  with  the  three  Suffra- 
gan dioceses  of  Kildare  and  Leighlin,  Ussory  and 
Ferns. 

X. DIOCESE  OF    DUBLIN. 

Includes  Dublin,  nearly  all  Wicklow,  and  portions  of 
Kildare,  Queen's  County,  Carlow  and  Wexford. 
PARISHES. — St.  Mary's,  St.  Andrew's,  St.  Audeon's,  St. 
Catharine's,  St.  James',  St.  Kevin's,  St.  Laurence 
O'Toole's,  SS.  Michael  and  John's,  St.  Michan's,  St. 
Nicholas  without,  SS.  Peter  and  Paul's,  St.  Agatha,  Ark- 
low,  Ashford  and  Glenealy,  Athy,  Baldoyle,  Howthe, 
Ballymore,  Eustace,  Balrothery,  Blackditches,  Blanchard- 
town,  Blessington,  Eadstown  and  Kilbride,  Booterstown, 
Blackrock  and  Dundrum,  Bray,  Bray  Little,  Cabinteely, 
Castledermot,  Albridge  and  Straffan,  Clontarf,  and  Coo- 
lock,  Dalky  and  Ballybrack,  Donabate,  Dunlavin,  Ennis- 
kerry,  Finglass  and  St.  Margaret,  Garristown,  Glende- 
lough,  Irishtown  and  Donnybrook,  Kilbride,  Kilcullen, 
Kilquade,  Kingstown  and  Monkstown,  Lusk,  Maynooth 
and  Leixlip,  Narraghmore,  Naul,  Newbridge,  Palmers- 
town,  Lucan  and  Clondalkin,  Rathdrum,  Rathfarnham, 
Rathmines  and  Miltown,  or  SS.  Mary  and  Peter,  Rathgar, 
Rolestown,  Rush,  Saggart,  Rathcoole  and  Newcastle, 
Sandyford,  Skerries,  Swods,  Wicklow. 

XI. DIOCESE  OF  KILDARE    AND  LEIGHLIN. 

Includes  the  County  of  Carlow,  and  parts  of  Kildare, 
Queen's  County,  King's  County,  Kilkenny,  Wicklow 
and  Wexford. 

PARISHES. — Carlow,  Abbyleix,  Allen  and  Milltown, 
Aries  and  Ballylinan,  Bagnalstown,  Ballinakill,  Ballon 
and  Rathoe,  Ballyadams,  Ballyfin,  Baltinglass,  Balyna, 
Borris,  Caragh,  Carbury,  Clane,  Clonaslie,  Clonegal,  Clon- 
bullogue,  Clonmore,  Curraghcamp,  Doonane,  Edenderry, 
Graig,  Hacketston,  Killock,  Kildare  and  Rathangan, 
Kill  and  Lyons,  Killeigh  and  Geashill,  Killeshin,  Leigh- 


GAZETTEER    OF    IRELAND.  027 

Unbridle,  Maryborough,  Monasterevan,  Mountmellick, 
Mouiitrath,  Mullin's  St.  Myshall,  Naas,  Newbridge,  Pauls- 
town  and  Goresbri'dge,  Philipstown,  Rahccn,  Rathvilly, 
Rhode,  Rosenallis,  Sancroft,  Stradbally,  Tinrylaiid  and 
Tulldw. 

XII. — DIOCESE   OF   OSSORY. 

Includes  Kilkenny  and  portions  of  King's  and  Queen's 

Counties. 

PARISHES. — St.  John's,  St.  Mary's,  Aghavoe,  Bally- 
cullan,  Ballyhale,  Ballyragget,  Borris-in-Ossory,  Callan, 
Castlecoiner,  Castletown,  Clara,  Clough,  Cpmeries, 
Conahy,  Dearisfort,  Dunamanagan,  Durrow,  JJYeshfort, 
Gal  way,  Glenmore,  Gowran,  Huginstown,  Iriistiogue, 
Johnstown,  Kilmacow,  Lisdowney,  Mooncoin,  Muckalee, 
Mullinavat,  Rathdowriey,  Rosbercon,  Seirkieran,  Skirk, 
Slieverue,  St.  Canice's,  St.  Patrick,  Templeorum, 
Thomastovvn,  Tullaherin,  Tullaroan,  Urlingford,  Wind- 
gap. 

XIII. DIOCESE  OP  FERNS. 

Includes  the  entire  of  ~Wexford  and  part  of  Wicklow. 

PARISHES. — Enniscorthy,  Camolin,  Adamstown,  Anna- 
cura,  and  Killaveny,  Ballinclaggin,  Ballygarrett,  Ban- 
now,  Blackwater,  Bree,  Castle  Bridge,  Clongeen, 
Cloughbawn,  and  Poulpeasty,  Grossabeg,  Cushenstown, 
Davidstown,  Ferns,  Glynn,  Gorey,  Kilaiierin,  Kilmore, 
Kihiesh,  Lady's  Island,  Litter,  Monageer,  Moylass,  and 
Ballymore,  New  Ross,  Newtownbarry,  Oyiegate,  Oulart, 
Piercetovvn,  Poulfur,  and  Templetown,  Ramsgrange,  and 
Duncannon,  Rathangan,  Rathnure,  and  Templedigan, 
Suttons,  and  Hoerwood,  Taghmou,  Tagoat,  Tin  turn, 
Tomacork,  Wexford. 


PROVINCE  OF  CASHEL. 

Comprising  the  Archdiocese  of  Cashel  and  Diocese  of 
Emly,  with  Suffragan  dioceses  of  Cork,  Killaloe, 
Kerry,  Limerick,  Waterford  and  Lwmore,  (Jloyne, 
.Ross  and  Kilfenora. 


O-O  GAZETTEER    OF    IRELAND. 

XIV. ARCHDIOCESE     OF     CASHEL   AND    DIOCESE    OF    EMLY. 

Includes  the  chief  part  of  Tipper ary  and  part  of  Lim- 
erick Counties. 

PARISHES. — Thurles,  Annecarthy,  Ballin.ahinch,  Ballin- 
garry,  Ballybricken,  Ballylander,  Ballyna,  Bansha  and 
Kilmoyler,  Boherlahan  and  Dualla,  Borrisaleigh,Cohercon- 
lish,  Cappamore,  Cappawhite,  Cashel,  Clerihan,  Clonoulty, 
Donoskeigh,  Doone,  Drangan,  Drom  and  Inch,  Emly, 
Fethard  and  Killusty,  Galbally,  Golden,  Gurtnahoe,  Holy- 
cross,  Hospital,  Kilbenny,  Kilcummin,  Killenaul,  Killteely, 
Knockany,  Knocklong,  Lattan  and  Cullin,  Loughmore, 
Moycarkey,  Moyne,  Mullinahone,  Murrow  and  Boher, 
Newinn,-  Newport,  Tipp.  Pallasgreen,  Templemore, 
Tipp.Ulla  and  Solohead,  Upperchurch. 

XV. DIOCESE  OF  CORK. 

Includes  Cork  and  a  part  of  Kerry. 
PARISHES. — Cathedral,  North  Parish,  SS.  Peter  and 
Paul,  St.  Patrick's,  South  Parish,  Ballincollig,  Ballinhas- 
sig,  Bandori,  Bantry,  Blackrock,  Coheragh,  Carrigaline, 
Clountead  and  Ballymartle,  Coursey's  Country,  Douglass, 
Drimalogue,  Dummanway,  Glanmire,  Glauntane,  Inis- 
hannon,  Enniskean,  Iveleary,  Kilbrittain,  Kilmichael, 
Kilmurry,  Kinsale,  Murragh,  Muinteravare,  Ovens,  Pas- 
sage, Skull  West,  Skull  East,  Tracton,  Watergrass  Hill. 

XVI. DIOCESE  OF  KILLALOE. 

Includes  portions  of  Clare^.  Tipperary,  King's  County, 
Galway,  Limerick  and  Queerfs  County. 
PARISHES. — Nenagh,  Newmarket,  Aghancon,  Birr, 
Borrisokane,  Broadlbrd,  Burgess  and  Youghal,  Callag- 
han's  Mills,  Carrigaholt,  Castleconnell,  Castletown-arra, 
Clare  Abbey,  Cloghprior  and  Mousea  Clondegad,  Clon- 
nish,  Cloughjordan,  Corofin,  Couraganeen,  Crusheen, 
Doonass,  Doora,  Dunkerin,  Dysart,  Ennis,  Feacle  Lower, 
Inagh  Inch  and  Kilmaley,  Kilbarron,  Kildysart,  Kilfar- 
boy,  Kilkee,  Kilkeedy,  Killabe,  Killanena,  Killard,'  Kil 


GAZETTEER    OF   IRELAND.  329 

liney,  Kilmacduane,  Kilmichael,  Kilmurry,  Ibricknane, 
Kilmurry,  McMahon,  Kilnanave  and  Templederry,  Kil- 
noe,  Kilnish,  Kinnetty,  Kyle  and  Knock,  Lorrha  and 
Durrha,  Ogonnelloe,  Quin,  Roscrea,  ScarifF  and  Moynoe, 
Shinrone,  Silvennines,  Six-mile-bridge,  Tulla,  Tooma- 


XVII. DIOCESE    OF    KERRY. 

Includes  Kerry  and  part  of  Cork. 
PARISHES. — Killarney,  Abbedorney,  Aghadoe,  Agha- 
vallen,  Ardfort,  Ballinvoher  and  Cappaclough,  Bally- 
heigue,  Ballymac  Elligot,  Brosna,  Cahirciven,  Castle-ire- 
land,  Dingle,  Drishane,  Dromod,  Dromtariff,  Duagh, 
Glenbehy,  Keelmachedor,  Kenmare,  Lilaconenagh,  Kil- 
caskan,  Kilcaskan  South,  Kilcatherine,  Kilcrohane  East, 
Kiicrohane  West,  Kilcummin  East,  Kilcummin  West; 
Kilcolman,  Kileentierna,  Kilgarvan,  Killaha,  Killcarah, 
Killiney,  Killorglin,  Killtalagh,  Killury,  Kilmeen,  Kil- 
namanagh,  Kilnaughten,  Knockane,  Lisselton,  Listowel, 
Molahiffe,  Murher  and  Knuckanaru,  Prior,  Tralee,  Tuos- 
ist,  Valentia. 

XVIII. — DIOCESE    OF   LIMERICK. 

Includes  Limerick  and  a  small  portion  of  Clare. 
PARISHES. — St.  John's,  St.  Michael's,  Abbeyfeals, 
Adare,  Ardagh,  Ardpatrick,  Askeaton,  Athea,  Ballin- 
garry,  Ballygran,  Banniogue,  Bruff,  Bulgaddin,  Cappagh, 
Colmanswell,  Coolcappa,  Cratloe,  Croagh,  Groom,  Don- 
aghmore,  Dromin,  Drumcolliher,  Effin,  Fedamore,  Feen- 
a<jh,  Glenroe,  Glin,  Kildimo,  Kilfinane,.  Killeedy,  Kilm- 
allock,  Knockaderry,  Longhill,  Mahoonagh,  Manister, 
Mo.iegea,  Mungret,  Newcastle,  Parteen,  Patrick's  Well, 
Rathkeale,  Rockhill,  St.  Mary's,  St.  Munchin's,  St.  Pat- 
rick's, Shanagolden,  Stonehall,  Templeglantane,  Touru- 
at'ulla. 

XIX. — DIOCESES  OF  WATERFORD  AND  LISMORE. 

Includes  Waterford  and  parts  of  Tipperary  and  Cork. 
PARISHES. — Triiity,  Within,  St.  John's,  Ballygunner, 


330  GAZETTEER  OF  IRELAND. 

Abbeyside,  Aglish,  Ardfinnan,  Ardmore,  Ballyduff,  Bal- 
lylooby,  Ballyneale,  Ballyporeen,  Caher,  Cappoquin,  Car- 
nckbeg,  Carrick-on-Suir,  Clashmore,  Clogheen,  Clonmel, 
St.  Peter's  and  St.  Paul's,  Dungarvan,  Dunhill  and  Fen- 
nor,  Four-mile-water  or  Newcastle,  Gammon's  Field 
or  Kileash,  Irishtovvn,  St.  Mary's  and  Abbey,  Kilgobinet, 
Kill  and  Newton,  Killrossanty  and  Fews,  Knockanure 
and  Kilwaterraoy,  Lismore,  Modeligo,  Passage,  Portlaw, 
Powerstown,  Rothcormack  and  Clonee,  Ring  and  Old 
Parish,  St.  Patrick's,  Slievegue,  Stradbally  and  Bally- 
laneen,  Fallow,  Tramore,  Trinity  Without  or  Bally- 
bricken. 

XX. DIOCESE    OP  CLOYNE. 

Includes  a  large  portion  of  Cork. 
PARISHES.— Queenstown,  Fermoy,  Agbabulloge,  Ag- 
hada,  Aghinagh,  Aankissy,  Ballinamona,  Ballyclough, 
Ballyhea,  Ballymacoda,  Ballvourney,  Blarney,  Buttevant, 
Carrigtoohill,  Castlelyons,  Castlemagner,  Castletownroche, 
Charleville,  Clondrobid,  Clonmeen,  Cloyne,  Gonna,  Don- 
eraile,  Donoughmore,  Freemount,  Glan worth,  Glountane, 
Genagh,  Imogeela,  Inscarra,  Kanturk,  Kildorrery,  Kil- 
leagh,  Kilworth,  Liscarrol,  Lisgoold,  Macroom,  Mallow, 
Mitchelstown,  Middleton,  Newmarket,  Rathcormack, 
Rock,  the  Shandrum,  Tuonadronien,  Youghal. 

XXI. — DIOCESE   OF   ROSS. 

Includes  part  of  Cork. 

PARISHES. — Skibbereen,  Kilmacabea,  Ardfield,  Augha- 
down,  Barryroe,  Castlehaven,  Clonakilty,  Kilmeen,  Rath, 
and  the  islands  of  Cape  Clear  and  Sherkin,  Roscarberry, 
Timoleague,  and  Clogach. 


PROVINCE  OF  TUAM. 

Comprises  the  Archbishopric  of  Tuam,  and  the 
dioceses  of  Tuatn,  Clonfert,  Achonry,  El  phi  n,  Kil- 
macduagh  and  Kilfenora^  Killala  and  Galway. 


GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND.  331 


XXII. DIOCESE  OF  TUAM. 

Includes  nearly  all  of  Mayo,  portion  of  Cfalway,  and 

part  of  Roscommon. 

PARISHES. — Aughaval,  Tuam,  Abbeyknockmoy,  Achill, 
Adagool  and  Liskeevy,  Armagh,  Annadown,  Arran  Island, 
Athenry,  Aughagower,  Ua.Ha  and  Manulla,  Ballinakil  and 
Inishbotin,  Ballinrobe,  Becan,  Barriscarra  and  Ballintober, 
Boyounagh,  Burrisoole,  Clare  Island,  Cong,  Crossbogue 
and  Tagheen,  Donoghpatrick  and  Kilcoona,  Dunmore, 
Eglish,  Bally hane  and  Breaghwy,  Islandeady  and  Glen 
Island,  Kilcolman,  Kilcoramon  and  Robeen,  Kilconly  and 
Kilbannon,  Kildacomogue,  Kilgeever,  Kilkerrin  and 
Clonbern,  Killanin,  Killeen,  Killererin,  Killescobe,  Kil- 
lursa  and  Killower,  Kilmainmore,  Kilmolara,  Kilmoylan 
and  Cummer,  Kiltulla,  Kilvine,  Knock  and  Aghamore, 
Lackagh,  Mayo  and  Roslea,  Moore,  Moylough,  Moyrus, 
Omey  and  Ballindoon,  Party,  Boss,  Rouudstone,  Spiddal, 
Templetogher,  Turlough. 

XXIII. DIOCESE  OF  CLOXFERT. 

Includes  Galway,  Roscommon  and  King's  County. 

PARISHES. — Loughrea,  Tynagh,  Abbeygormacan  and 
Killoran,  Aughrim  and  Kilconnel,  Ballymacword  and 
Clonkeenkerril,  Ballynakill  Lower,  Ballynakill  Upper, 
Bullane,  Grange  and  Killaun,  Confert,  Donanaghta  and 
Meelick,  Clontnskert,  Creagh  and  Kilcloony,  Duniry  and 
Kilnelaghan,  Fahy  and  Kilquarie,  Tohenagh  and  Kilger- 
rill,  Killcomckney,  Kilconieran  and  Lickerrig,  Kilcooley 
and  Leitrim,  Killalaghtan  and  Kilrickiil,  Kiilimor- 
bologue  and  Tiranascragh,  Killimordally  and  Kiltulla, 
Kilmalanogue  and  Lickmolassy,  Kilnadeema  and  Kilte- 
skill,  Lusmagh,  Oghill  and  Kiltormer,  Tagiimacconuell. 

XXIV. DIOCESE    OF     ACHONRY. 

Includes  portions  of  Mayo   and  Sligo,   and  a   small 
part  of  Roscommon. 
PARISHES. — Castlemore   and  Kilcolman,  Achonrv,  Ar- 


332  GAZETTEER  OF  IRELAND. 

tymass,  Ballysadore  and  Kilvarnet,  Ballymote,  Bohola, 
Carraeastle,  Cloonacool,  Curry,  Drumrath,  Kilconduff, 
Kilfree  and  Killarraght,  Kilgarvan,  Killasser,  Killebe- 
hagh,  Killedan,  Kilmovee,  Killoran,  Kilmacteague,  Kil- 
shalvy,  Kilturra,  and  Cloonoghill,  Templemore,  Toomore. 

XXV. — DIOCESE    OF   ELPHIN. 

Includes  Moscommon  and  a  large  portion  of  Sligo  and 
Gal  way. 

PARISHES. — Athlone,  St.  Peter's  and  Drum,  Ahascragh 
and  Caltra,  Ahamlish,  Ardcarne,  Athleague,  Aughana, 
Aughrim,  Ballintubber,  Baslick,  Boyle,  Clontooskert, 
Creeve,  DrumclifF,  Dysart,  Elphin,  Fuerty,  Geevagh,. 
Glinsk  and  Kilcroan,  Kilbignet,  Kilbride  and  Kilgefin, 
Kilcorkey  and  Frenchpark,  Kilglass,  Kilkeevin,  Killian 
and  Kilrosan,  Killucan  and  Killummod,  Kilmore,  Kil- 
namana  and  Estersnow,  Kiltoom,  Kiltrustan,  Burnlin, 
Lissonuffy  and  Cloonfinlough,  Loughglyn  and  Lisacull, 
Ogulla,  Oran,  Roscommon  and  Kilteevan,  St.  John's, 
Killenvoy  and  Kilmaine,  Sligo,  Coolery  and  Calry,  Tar- 
raonbarry,  Townagh,  Riverstovvn  and  Kilross,  Tessaragh 
and  Rahara,  Tibohine  and  Fairymount. 

XXVI. UNITED      DIOCESES    OF     KILMACDUAGH     AND     KIL- 

FENORA. 

PARISHES. — Kinvarra,  Ardralian,  Ballinderreen,  Beagh 
Craughwell,  Kilbeacanty,  Kilcreest,  Kilcornan,  Kilmac- 
duagh  and  Kiltartan,  Kilthomas. 

DIOCESE     OF    KILFENORA. 

PARISHES. — Carron,  Ennistymon,  Glanaragah,  Kilfe- 
nora,  Kilshanny,  New  Quay,  Touheran,  Touclea. 

XXVII. DIOCESE   OF    GALWAY. 

All  in  County  Galway,  except  Shrule,  which  is  in  the 

County  Mayo. 

St.  Nicholas  East,  Rahoon,  Claregalway,  Castlegar, 
Kilcuramin,  Moycullen,  Oran  more  and  Ballynacourty, 


GAZETTEER   OF   IRELAND. 

Rusmuck   and  Lettermullan,  Shrule,  Spiddal,  St.  Nich- 
olas North,  St.  Nicholas  South,  St.  Nicholas  West. 

XXVIII. DIOCESE  OF  KILLALA. 

Includes  portions  of  Mayo  and  Sligo. 
Backs,  Kilmoremoy,  Adragool,  Ardah,  Ballysakeery, 
Ballycroy,  Belmullet,  Castleconnor,  Crossmolina,  Doon- 
i'eeny  and  Ballycastle,  Easky,  Kilcommon,  Erris,  Kilfian, 
Kilglass,  Killala,  Kilmacshilgan,  Kilmore,  Ennis,  Lackan, 
Moygawnagh,  Skreen  and  Dromard,  Templeboy. 


POPULATION. 


ALPHABETICAL  LIST    OF   CITIES,    COUNTIES  OF   TOWNS,  PARLIA- 
MENTARY J50ROUGHS.  MUNICIPAL  TOWNS.  TOWNSHIPS.  AND 
ALL  OTHER   TOWNS  IN   IRELAND   EXCEEDING  TJO  IN- 
HABITANTS, ACCORDING  TO  THE  LAST  CENSUS, 
WITH  THE  COUNTY  IN  WHICH  SITUATE. 

COUNTIES  OF  CITIES  AND  COCNTIFS  OF  TOWNS  MARKED  *;  CORPORATE  BOROUGHS  t;  PAR- 
LIAMENTARY BOROUGHS};  MUNICIPAL  TOWNS  HAVING  TOWN  COMMISSIONERS  J: 
TOWNSHIPS  HAVING  TOWN  COMMISSIONERS  f . 


Abbey,  329,  Tipperary. 

Athlumnev,  140  Meath. 

Ballybunnion,  215.  Kerrv. 

Abbeydorney.  256.  Kerry. 

?Athy,  4.510,  Kildare. 

BaJlycanew.  259,  Wextbrd. 

Abbeyfeale,  993,  Limerick. 

Aogher,306,  Tvnme. 

Ballycarrv,  319.  Antrim. 

Abbeylara,  175,  Longlord. 

J  Aughnacloy,  1  ,465.  Tyrone. 

Bnllycastle,  1,739.  Antrim. 

Abbeyleix,  1,247,  Queen's. 
Abbeyshrule,  145,  Longford 

AugErim,  271,  Galwav. 
i  Bagnalstowu,  2,309,  Carl. 

Ballycastle,  372,  Mayo. 
Bnllyclare.  1.021,  Antrim. 

Aclare,  187,  Sligo. 

Bailieborpngh,  1.2SO,  Cav. 

Ballyclerahvi,  "('••.<,  Tip. 

Adare,  721,  Limerick. 

glialbriggan.  2.332,  Dublin. 

Ballvclogh,  326,  Cork. 

Aghada,  Upper,  197,  Cork. 

Baldoyle,  602,  Dublin. 

Ballycolla.  222.  Queen's. 

Aglish,  206,  Waterford. 

Balla,  4;>3.  Mayo. 

Ballvroniiell.  429  Cavan. 

Ahascragh,  425,  Galway. 

Ballaghadoreen,  1496,  Mayo. 

Ballycottin.  579,  Cork. 

Abenny.  206,  Tipperary. 

Balllckmoyler,  261.  Queen's. 

Ballvcumber.  lfi">,  King's. 

Ahoghill,  839,  Antrim. 

iJBallina,  5,551,  Mayo   and 

Ballydehob,  640,  Cork. 

Anascanl,  252,  Kerry. 

Sligo. 

Balivdonegiiu,  450,  Cork. 

Annagassan,  159,  Louth. 

Ballma,  272,  Tippcrarv. 

Ballydnff.  20S.  Kerry. 

Annalong,  180,  Down. 

I'.allinakill,  743.  Queen's. 

l!;\]ivduff,  211,  Waterford. 

Annsborough,  60s,  Down. 

Biillinalack,  206,  \Vcstm'th. 

lliillyc:vston,  182,  Antrim. 

((Antrim.  2,020.  Antrim. 

Ballinalee,  192.  Longford. 

Itallyfnrnan,  341,  Roscom. 

Ardagh,  349,  Limerick. 

Ballinamore,  531.    L«-itrim. 

Ballygar,  4S7,  Galway. 

Ardagh,  165,  Longford. 

JBallinaeloe,  5,O.J2,  Galway 

Ballygawley,  'Ml,  Tyrone. 

Ardara,  575,  Donegal. 

and  Roscommon. 

Uaily.'rorey.   151.  Kilkenny. 

'I  Ardee,  2,972,  Louth. 

Ballincollig,  524.  Cork. 

Kallvlmok.  197,  Wexford. 

Ardfert,  192,  Kerry. 

Hallindine,  271.  Mayo. 

Ballyhahlll,  126,  Limerick. 

Ardfinnan,  360.  Tipperary. 

Hallindrait,  156,  Donegal. 

Ballyhaise,  227,  Cavan. 

Ardglass,  613,  Down. 

Hallingarry.  f>73.  Limerick. 

Ballyhalbert,  454.  Down. 

Ardmore.  407,  Waterford. 

BaHingarnr,  3;w,  Tipperary. 

Ballyhale,  255,  Kilkenny. 

Arklow.  5,178,  Wicklow. 

BalllnTongO,  202,  Koscom. 

BallyhanniB,  5  12.  Mayo. 

Arless,  128,  Queen's. 

Ballinrobe,  2,40.x,  Mavo. 

Ballvheige,  257,  Kerry. 

*  J  Armagh,  8,9  16.  Armagh. 

Ballinspittle,  121,  Cork. 

Ballyhooly,  263,  Cork. 

Armey,  366,  Antrim. 

Ballintemplc.  1,(KIO,  Cork. 

Ballyhonutn,  156,  Down. 

Arthurstown,  isg.  Wexford. 

Baltintoffher,  129.  Sligo. 

BaHyJameednff,  714,  Cavan. 

Articlave,  217,  Derry. 

Ballintoy,  211.  Antrim. 

Itallvkiiockiii).  169,  Carlow. 

Arvagh,  696,  Cavan. 

Uallintra,  46.S,  Donegal. 

Bally  knockan.  278"  Wickl'w. 

Ashbourne,  2*9,  Meath. 

Ballinunty.  953.  Tipperary. 

Ballylanders.  52.V.  Limi'rii-k. 

Asbbrook,  177,  Roscom. 

Ballitore.  416.  Kildare. 

Ballylaneen,  1  12,  Watcri'rd. 

Asknaton,  1,3"3.  Limerick. 

Ballivor,  159.  Meath. 

Bullylongford.  S36.  Kerry. 

Athlioy.  S61.  Meath 

Ballon,  157,  Carlow. 

Ballylynan.  242.  Qu-'en's. 

A  then.  31(1,  Limerick. 

Hiallvbay.  1.714,    Monagh. 

Ballymacoda,  217.  Cork. 

Athenry,  1,1'.)4.  Galway. 

Ballvl.oden,  151.  Dublin. 

Ballymagorry,  I:M.  Tyrone. 

Athleague,  219,  Roscom. 

Biillvliofey.  SSI,  Donegal. 

Baltymagulgan,  13">.  Derry. 

JJAthlone,   6.565,    Rogcom- 

Ballyboy.  145,  King's. 

Bnllymabon,   914,  Lonford. 

inon  unU  WeBtmeath.         [Ballybrittas,  160,  Queen's. 

JBallymeua,  7,931,  Antrim. 

(334) 


POPULATION    IN    CITIES    AND    TOWNS. 


335 


Billymoe,  193,  Galway. 

Borris-in-Ossory.      562, 

}astlefinn,  382,  Donegal. 

?  Bally  money,  2,1>;JO,  Antrim. 

Quoen's. 

'astlegregory,  56],  Kerry. 

Bally  more-Eustace,  71  9,  Kil- 

Borrisokane, 842,  Tipp'r'ry. 

'astU-fslaiid,  1.767,  Kerry. 

dare. 

Borrisoleigh,  772,  Tipp'r'ry. 

"iastlcknock,  147,  Dublin. 

Ballymore.  441,  Westm'th. 

J  Boyle,  3,347,  Roscommon. 

yastli-lyons,  456,  Cork, 

Ballymote,  1,180,  Sligo. 

t  Bray,  6,087,  Wicklow  and 

Jastleinaine,  179,  Kerry. 

Ballynacarrigy,  368,  West- 

Dublin. 

'astlemartyr,  536,  Cork. 

nn-ath. 

Bridebridge.  188,  Cork. 

^astlepollard,  932,  Westm. 

Ballynaoorra,  396,  Cork. 

Bridgetown,  144,  Wexford. 

'astlereagh,  1.146,  Roscom. 

Ballrnafatma  and  Clondn- 

Broadford,  273,  Clare. 

Oastletown,  237,  Queen's. 

lane,133,  Cork. 

Broadford,  223,  Limerick. 

Castletown,  207,  Westm'th. 

Ballynagaul.  or  Rinsville, 

Broadway,  129,  Wexford. 

Castletown-Bearhaven, 

386  ..Waterford. 

Brookborough,    390,     Fer- 

1,002, Cork. 

Ballynahincli.  1.225,  Down. 

managh. 

^astletownroche,  801,  Cork. 

Ballyneen,  :i86,  Cork. 

Brosna,  282,  Kerry. 

y'a.stletownsend,  474,  Cork. 

Ballynoe,  208,  Cork. 

Broushshane,  728,  Antrim. 

,'astlewellan,  763,  Down.     * 

Bally  nure,  321,  Antrim. 

Brufi',  1,687,  Limerick. 

Causeway,  231,  Kerry. 

I'.alb-organ,  167,  Limerick. 

Bruree,  520,  Limerick, 

Cav*n.  3.389,  Cavan. 

Btllyporeen.616.  Tip. 

Buncrana,  755,  Donegal. 

>cilRtown,  154,  Cork. 

Ballvquin.  168,  Kerry. 

Bundoran,  744,  Donegal 

,'elbridso,  1,391,  Kildare. 

Biillyragget.  936.  Kilkenny. 

Bunlahy,  129,  Longford. 

^hapelizod,  1.280,  Dublin. 

Ballvroan.  354,  Queen's. 

Bunmahon,  602,  Waterford, 

/harlemotit,  391,  Armagh. 

Ballysaderc,  392,  Sligo, 
J  Baliyshanuon,  2,958,  Don- 

Burncourt, 157.  Tipperary. 
Bushmills,  1,008,  Antrim. 

^harlestown,  148,  Armagh. 
'harlcstown,  709,  Mayo. 

egal. 

Butlersbridge.   151,  Cavan. 

Charh'ville,  2,482,  Cork. 

I!  illyvaghan,  213,  Clare. 

Butlerstown,  135,  Cork. 

Checkpoint,  214,  Waterf'rd. 

Ballvwalter,  702,  Down. 

Buttevant,  1.756,  Cork. 

!hurcntown,  253,  Cork. 

Balrothery.  17fi,  Dublin. 

CabinteeVy,  226,  Dublin. 

'hurchtown.  138,  Wexford, 

BaUcadden,  140,  Dublin. 

Caherconlish,  432,  Limerick. 

'iviltown.  142,  Down. 

Baltimore,  193,  Cork. 

Caher,  2.694.  Tipperary. 

Clady.  181,  Tyrone. 

Baltinglas?,  1.241,  Wickl. 

Caherciveen,  1,925,  Kerry. 

Clane.  266,  Kildare. 

Baltrav.  364,  Louth. 

Caledon,  579,  Tyrone. 

Clara,  832.  King's. 

Biiniigher,  1,206,  King's. 

3  Callan,  2,387,  Kilkenny. 

}lare,  877,  Clare. 

3  Banbridge,  5.600.  Down. 

Camlough,  224.  Armagh. 

31aremorris,  1.103,  Mayo. 

1  Bandon,  6,131,  Cork. 

Camolin,  483,  Wexford. 

Mashavodig,  326,  Cork.  . 

J  Bangor,  2,560,  Down 

Canpile,  U5,  Wexford. 

Clarihmore,  154,  Waterford. 

Ban  ii  Villa-row,  113,  Down. 

Cappagh,  166,  Clare. 

Claiuly.  205,  Derry. 

Biinsha.  373,  Tipperary. 
Bantry.  2,S30.  Cork. 

Cappagh  White,  657,  Tip. 
Cappamore,  975,   Limerick. 

Clifden.  1,313,  Galway. 
Cloanmines.  882,  Cork. 

Brtrna,  195.  Galway. 
Biuirroo   and    Feakle,   198, 

Cappoquin,  1,526,  Waterf. 
Carlanstown.  151,  Meath. 

)logh,  459.  Kilkenny. 
Tloghan,  274,  King's. 

Clare. 

Carlingford,  971,  Louth. 

^loghecn,  1.317,  Tipperary. 

Jt  Belfast,   174,412,  Antrim 

{  I  Carlo,  7,842,  Carlow  and 

)logher,  760,  Louth. 

and  Down. 

Queen's. 

Clogher,  242,  Tyrone. 

Belgooly,  105,  Cork. 

Carndonagh,  737.  Donegal. 

'loglijordan,  668,  Tip. 

Bcllaghy.  491.  Derry. 

Carnew,  801,  Wicklow. 

^loghmills,  144,  Antrim. 

Bellahy,  329,  Sligo. 

Carnloueh,  541,  Antrim. 

Clohamon.  180,  Wextord. 

Bellanagare,  180,  Roscom. 

Carrickduff,  132,  Carlow. 

?  Clonakilty.  3,">68,  Cork. 

Bellanamallard,     285,    Fer- 

*tCar. Fergus,  9,397,Antrim. 

Jlonaslee,  357.  Queen's. 

managh. 

5  Carrickmacross,  2,017, 

Clondalkin,  470.  Dublin. 

Bellananagh,  630.  Cavan. 

Monaghan. 

Clonee.  202.  Meath. 

Bellanode,  129,  Honaghan. 

Carrick-on-Shannon,    1,431, 

jlonegall,  245,  Carlow. 

Belleek,  327,  Fermanagh. 

Leitrim  and  Roscommon. 

!  Clones,  2,170,  Monaghan. 

Belmullet,  849,  Mavo. 

?Carrick-on-Suir,  7,792  Tip- 

^lonniariy, 123.  Donegal. 

'i  Belturbet.  1,759,  Cavan. 

perary  and  Waterford. 

Clonmellon,  514,  Westm'th. 

Bunburl),  192.  Tyrone. 

Carrigaholt,  430,  Clare. 

HClonmel,   10,112,   Tipper- 

Bcnnettsbridge,   210,     Kil- 

Carrigaline, 329,  Cork. 

ary  and  Waterford. 

kenny. 

Carrigallen,  335   Leitrim. 

Clonroche,  324,  Wexford. 

Beragh,  470,  Tyrone. 

Carrigans,  184,  Donegal. 

tClontarf.  3,4*2,  Dublin. 

Bessbrook     2  215.  Armagh. 

Carrietohill.  700.  Cork. 

Clonygowan  141,  King's. 

Binflbamstown,  154,  Mayo.  Carrowarreri,  146,  Clare. 

Cloonilara,  166,  Longford. 

Blackrocki  562,  Cork.             Carrowdore,  502,  Down. 

Gloone,  132,  Leitrim. 

^Blackrock,  8,089,  Dublin.  *|Cashel,   4,562,  Tipperary 

Clough,  272.  Down. 

Blackrock.  392.  Louth.            JCastlebar,  3,571,  Mayo. 

Clovne,  1.235.  Cork. 

Blackwater,   231,  Wexford.  Castlebellingham,  537,  L'th 

Coachford.  138,  Cork. 

Blackwatertown,    253,    Ar-  Castleblavney,    1,807,  Mon 

Cough,  526.  Tyrone. 

magh.                                   Castlebridge,  292,  Wexford 

Coal  Inland,  598,  Tyrone. 

B'anchardstown,  239,  Dub.  Castlecaulfield,  185,  Tyrone 

t  K'oleraine.  6.588,  Derry. 

Blarney,  346,  Cork.                  Castlecomer,  1,321,  Kilk'ny 

Collon,  547,  Louth. 

Blennerville,  3*9,  Kerry.      iCastleconnell,  478,  Limr'ck 

Collooney,  391  .Sligo. 

Blemngton,  407,  Wicklow.  Castlrdawson,  585,  Derry. 

Comber,  2.006,  Down. 

IJoherbov,  152,  Cork..               Castlederg,  703,  Tyrone. 

Cong.  364,  Mavo. 

liorris,  601  ,  Carlow.                iCastledermot,  727.  Kildare 

Coulig,  Si5,  Down. 

336 


POPULATION   IN   CITIES   AND   TOWNS. 


Cotma,  167,  Cork.     . 
Connor.  255,  Antrim. 
Convoy,  259,  Donegal. 
JCookstown,  3,501,  Tyrone. 
Coolaney,  239,  Sligo. 
Coole,  :;53,  Westmeath. 
Coolgreaney,  2(11.  Wexford. 
Coolock,  202,  Dublin. 
Coolrain,  144,  Queen's. 
Cooraclare,  171.  Clare. 
Coosheen,  151,  Clare. 
ICootehill,  1.S.M,  Cavan. 
•tJCork,  11)0.51(1,  Cork. 
Gorrofln,  63,9,  Clare. 
Courtmacslierry,  485,  Cork. 
Courtown     Harbour,     382, 

Wexford. 
Cove,  272,  Cork. 
Craughwell,  168,  Galway. 
.Creeslough,  154,  Donegal. 
Creggs,  151,  Galway. 
Crindle,  181,  Derry. 
Crinkill,  1,432.  King's. 
Croasjh,  123.  Limerick. 
Crocket^town,  237.  Sligo. 
Crookhaven,  257,  Cork. 
Croom.885,  Limerick. 
Cross,  129,  Clare. 
Crossakeel,  161.  Meath. 
Crossgar.  688,  Down. 
Crosshaven,338,  Cork. 
Crossmaglen,  649,  Armagh. 
Crossmolina,  S52,  Mayo. 
Crossroad*.  258,  Donegal. 
Crumlin,  4t"i5,  Antrim. 
Crumlin,204,  Dublin. 
Cullen,  182,  Tipperary. 
Cullybackey,  255,  Antrim. 
Curraglass,  144,  Cork. 
Curran.  160,  Derry. 
Cushendall,  470.  Antrim. 
YDalkey,  2,584.  Dublin. 
Dangan,  15S  Kilkenny. 
Darkley,  849,  Armagh. 
Deansgrange,  300,  Dublin. 
Delgany,  2f>4.  Wicklow. 
Delvin,  326,  Westmeath. 
Derrygonnelly,  302,  Fermh. 
Dervock,  358.  Antrim. 
Desertmartin,  163,  Derry. 
Dingle.  2,117.  Kerrj'. 
Doagu.  264,  Antrim. 
Dolfingstown,  383,  Down. 
Donaghadee,  2,226,  Down. 
Donaghcloney,  142,  Down. 
Donaghmore.  206,  Queen's. 
Donoghmore,  351.   Tyrone. 
Donard.  318,  Wicklow. 
Donegal,  1,422,  Donegal. 
Doneraile,  1,314,  Cork. 
Dooega,  191.  Mayo. 
Doon,  366,  Limerick. 
Doornane,  193,  Kilkenny. 
Douglas,  783,  Cork. 
tJDowii  patrick  .4. 155,  Down. 
Drangan,  186,  Tipperary. 
Draperstown.  503.  Derry. 
ttDrogheda,  16.  165,  Louth. 
Dromara,  2O6,  Down. 
Dromcolliher.  652,  I^imer. 
Dromdaleaaue,  204,  Cork. 
Dromina,  254,  Cork. 
Droiniskin,  152,  Louth. 


|Dromore,  2.40S.  Down. 
Dromore,  641,  Tyrone. 
Drum,  162,  Monaglian. 
Drumadd,  297,  Armagh. 
Dniiuuhaire,  269.  Leitrim. 
Drumcondra,  207,  Dublin. 
Drumoondra,  178,  Meatli. 
Drumkeeran,  3.S1,  Leitrim 
Drumlish,  369,  Longford. 
Drumquin,  287,  Tyrone. 
Drninshambo,  594,  Leitrim 
Drumsna,  25<,  Leitrim. 
Dnagh,  267,  Kerry. 
S:I)ublin,  267,  717,  Dublin. 
Duleek,  719,  Meath. 
Dunboyne,  344,  Meath. 
Duncannou,  604,  Wexford 
Duncormick,  215,  Wexford 
iDundalk,  11,377,  Loiith. 
Dundonald,  121,  Down. 
Dundrum,  293,  Down. 
Dundrum,  540,  Dublin. 


Dnndrom.  156,  Tipperary. 
Diinfunaghy,  650,  Donegal. 


J'UIlKlir,  1MI,  JV1IKPI 

Dunleer,  528,  Louth. 

Dunmanway,  2,046,  Cork. 

Dunmore,  640,  UMway. 

Dunmore,  383,  Waterford. 

Dunmurry,  504,  Antrim. 

Dunnamanagh,     231,     Ty- 
rone. 

Dnnshaughlin,  362,  Meath. 

Durrow,  956,  Queen's. 

Durrus,  193,  Cork. 

Kiisky.  306.  Sligo. 

Eden,  276,  Antrim. 

Edenderry,  1,873,  King's. 

Ederney,  332,  Fermanagh. 

Edgeworthstown,      1,136, 
Longford. 

Edmondstown,  138.  Dublin. 

Elphin,  1,051,   Roscommon. 

Emly,  331,  Tipperary. 

Emyvale,  424,  Monaghan. 

*  Ennis,  6,5(C,  Clare. 


Feakle,  198,  Clare. 
Feenagh,  140,  Limerick. 
Feeny,  187,  Derry. 
Ferbane,  419,  King's. 
1  Fermoy,  7.388,  Cork. 


Finnea,  193.  Wostmoath. 
Fintona,  1,3.>.  Tyrone. 
Figheratreet.  12ti,  Clare. 
Fivemiletown.  625.  Tyrone. 
Ford.  232.  Wexford, 
Forkhill,  165,  Armagh. 
Fox!'  -rd,  667.  Mayo. 
Frankford, 669,  Kii:  r's. 
J'l-eeniount,  205,  Cork. 
Krenchpark,  479.  Ro-com. 
Frcr-li'.onl,  915,  Kilkenny, 
(iallially.  L'.sl,  uimerick. 
t  Gal  way,  19.8i:(.  Galway. 
GaiTistown,  2.">3.  Dublin. 
Garvagh.764,  Derry. 
IGilford,  2,720,  Down. 
Qlandore,  822,  Cork. 
Glanmirc,  3:sn.Cork. 
Glanworth,673.  Cork. 
Qlna'iough,  231. 'Monaghan. 
Glaaueviu.  328,  Dublin. 
GI  naiicary,  "10,  Dublin. 
G'enann.  9S7,  Antrim. 
(ili-n.ivy,  261,  Antrim. 


Gowran.707.  Kilkenny. 
Gracehill,  2'.io,  Antrim. 
Grnignenumanagh,  1,272. 

Kilkenny. 

Grananl.  1,M1.  Longford. 
Grange.  17:!.  Sliiro. 
Claim.',  121.  Tyrone. 
Greencnstle.  "''2.  Antrim. 
Greyabbey,  770,  Down. 
Greystones.  355.  Wicklow. 
Groomaport,  324,  Down. 
Gyli-en,  299,  Cork. 
Hackf  tstown,   863,  Carlow. 
Hallway  House.   166,  Cork. 
Hamilton's      Bawn,       127, 

Armagh. 

Headford,  870,  Galway. 
He'rbei  tstown,  3  '7,  Liiner'k. 
'     "5,  Down. 


nis.lioi.iK'.  Till,  Kilkenney. 
pnfleld,  L'17,  M«-atli. 


I 

I....  .....  ______ 

Irviiii'Stown 


.....   .  _______ 

,  1LV),  Li-itrim. 


Ferns,  568.  Wexford,  Jnhnstown.   re'-;.  Kilkenny. 

JFethard,  2,106.  Tipporary.  Jonesbbrooxh,  1.18,  Armach. 

Fethard.  273.  Wexford.  Kantuvk.  1.9C.4,  Cork. 


Fiddowii,  149.  Kilkenny. 
Kin-last,  499,  Dublin. 


.  17'.',  11 . 
{Keady,  1,815,  Arm;igh. 


POPULATION   IX   CITIES    AND   TOWNS. 


337 


Keonaeh,  107,  Longford. 
Rolls.  234,  Antrim. 
Kolls.  2i«i,  Kilkenny. 
{Kells,  2,'.i,V(,  Meath. 
Kenmarc.  1.2i^").  Kerry. 
Kesh,  '£»'',  Fermanagh. 
Kilbaba,  2(18,  Clare. 
Kilbeggan.  1.  145,  Westm. 
Kilcar,  28(i,  Donegal. 
Kilchreest.  liil  .Galway. 
Kilcock.  764.  Kildare. 
Kilconnell.  148,  Galway. 
Kilcoole.35n,  Wicklow. 
Kilcullen,  9:«,  Kildare. 
Kildare,  \,XW.  Kildare. 
Kildavin,  12">,  Carlow. 
KiliUino,  ls4,  Limerick. 
Kiidorrery,  407,  Cork. 
Kilfenora,  294,  ( 'lare. 
Kilnnnanc.  1,299.  Limerick. 
Kilsarvan,  1S3.  Kerry. 
Kilkee,  I,6o5.  Clare. 
Kiikeel,  1,338,  Down. 
Kilkclly.  259,  Mayo. 
*t}Kilk«'iiny',15,7-i<.  Kilken. 
Kilkishen,  2*fi,  Clare. 
Kill,  215.  Kililare. 
Kill,  2ti2,  Waterford. 
Killadysert,  573,  Clare. 
Killala.  6.*>4,  Mayo. 
Killaloe,  1,479,  Cli-.re. 
I  Killarney,  5,195,  Kerry. 
Killasliandra,  692,  Cavan. 
Killasliee,  145,  Longford. 
K ilia willin,  453.  Cork. 
Killeagh,  3'.I4,  Cork. 
Killcany,  3s5.  Galway. 
Killenaule,  92t,  Tipperary. 
Killiinor,  286,  Galway. 
IKilliney  and   Bally  brack, 

2.29(1,  Dublin. 
Killinick,  177,  Wexford. 
Kill -of- the -Grange,     206, 

Dublin. 

Killorglin,  1,055,  Kerrj'. 
Killough,  718,  Down. 
Killucan,    2(KI,   Westmeath. 
Killyliegs,  6:>7,  Donegal. 
Kiliygordon,  175,  Donegal. 
Killylea,  191,  Armagh. 
Killyleagb,  1.772.  Down. 
KMmacow,  178.  Kilkenny. 
Kilmacrenan,  15.<,  Donegal 
Kilmacthomas.  6<«'..  Waterf. 
Kilmasanny,  4(13,  Kilkenny 
Kilmaine.  214,  Mayo. 
f  Kilmalnham,  New,  4,930. 

Dublin. 

Kilmallock,  1.162,  Limerick. 
Kilmanagh,  K>s.  Kilkenny. 
Kilmeage,  145.  Kildare. 
Kilmeedy,  190.  Limerick. 
Kilmore.  i:;i.  Down. 
Kilmore.  14.">.  Wexford. 
Kilniore    (Crossfarnoge), 

411,  Wextord. 
Kihnurvy,  12,1*,  Galway. 
Kilnaleck.324,  Cavan. 
Kilpedder.  173.  Wicklow. 
Kilrea,  954,  Derry. 
Kilronan,  527,  Galway. 
Kilrusli.  1.43»'>,  Clare. 
Kilsheelan,  315,  Tipperary. 


Kiltanngh,  907.  Mayo. 

Maghera,  1,213,  Derrv. 

Kiltfliv.  198.  Limerick. 

Maghcrafelt,  1,401,  Derry.  • 

Kiltegan.  190.  Wicklow. 

Miiaheralin,  462,  Down. 

Kiltvdogher,  389,  Leitrim. 

Maguiresbridge,    685,   Fer- 

Kilvine, 354,  Mayo. 

managh. 

Kilwi.i  til.  057,  Cork. 

Mahoonagh,  143,  Limerick. 

Kingfcoiirt,  '.'12.  (.'avail. 

Malahide,  653,  Dublin. 

11  Kingstown,  16,378,  Dublin. 

Malin,  198,  Donegal. 

Kinlough,  301,  Leitrim. 

M;illaranny,  231,  Mayo. 

Kinnegad,  628.  Westiueath. 

i?Mallow,  4.165.  Cork. 

Kiiniittv.  236.  Queen's. 

Hanorcunningnam,    234, 

J  Kinsale,  7.050,  Cork. 
Kinvarra,  614,  Galway. 

Donegal. 
Manorliamilton,    977,    Lei- 

Kircul.liin.021, Down. 

trim. 

Knightstown.  241,  Kerry. 
Knock,  129,  Mayo. 

Markethill,  1.14S.  Armagh. 
?Marybor(UigI),'.'.731.Que'n'8. 

Knockaderry,  173.Limprick. 

Maudlins.  167.  Wcxtord. 

Knockainy,   229,  Limerick.  Maynooth,  1.414,  Kildare. 

Knockcroghery,     163,  Ros- 

Menlougfl,  534,  Galway. 

common. 

MiildU'ciuarter.  136,  Mayo. 

Knockmahon,252,Watert'd.!  JMidleton.  3.603,  Cork. 

K  nocktopher.  L'2<i,  Kilkenny.  Middletown,  434,  Armagh. 

Labasheetia,  334  Clare. 

Milford.  216,  Cork. 

Ladysbridge.  124,  Cork. 

Milllbrd,  268,  Donegal. 

Laehy.  144.  Donegal. 

Millir-lc.  299,  Dowu. 

Lambeg,  186,  Antrim. 

MilUtreet,  1,394,  Cork.     . 

Lanesborough,   363,  Lonjf- 

Milltowninalbay,       1,362; 

ford  and  Kosoommon.  . 

Clare. 

ILarne,  3,288  Antrim. 

Milltown,  141,  Down. 

Laurencetown,  143,  Down. 

Milltown,  531,  Kerry. 

Laurencetown,  345,  Galway. 

Uitchelstown,  2,743,  Cork. 

Leap,  132.  Cork. 

Moate,  1,531,  Westmeath. 

Let-arrow,  154,  Mayo. 

Mohill,  l,(*2.  Leitrim. 

Legoniel.3,152,  Antrim. 

Moira,  640,  DOWH. 

Lehinch,  317,  Clare. 
Leiglilinbridge,  1,066,  Car- 

JMonaghan,  3.632,  Monash. 
Monastereven.  1.040,  Kild'e. 

low. 

Moneygall,  491,  King's. 

Leitrim,  212.  Leitrim. 

Moneymore.  649.  Derry. 

Leixlip,  817,  Kildare. 

Monivea.  ISO,  Galway. 

ILetterkeunt,  2.116,  Doneg. 

Monkstown,  198,  Antrim. 

Lifford.  660,  Donegal. 

Monkstown,  718  Cork. 

{Limavady,  2,762,   London- 

Montpelier, 274,   Limerick. 

derry. 

Mooncoin,  645.  Kilkenny. 

*t{Limerick,  49,980,  Limer- 

Moone, 180,  Kildare. 

ick. 

Moroe,  149.  Limerick. 

Lisbellaw,  2S3,  Fermanagh. 

Mossbeg,  219,  Antrim. 

{JLisburn,     9,326,     Antrim 

Moss-side,  173,  Antrim. 

and  Down. 

Mountbellew,  274,  Galway. 

Lisoinnor,  415,  Clare. 

Mountbolus,  186,  King's. 

Liecarroll,  901,  Cork. 

Mountcharles.387,  Donegal. 

|Lismore,  1.946.  Waterford. 

8Mountmenick.3.310,Qu'ens 

Lisna<kea,  857,  Fermanagh. 

Mountrath.  1,903.  Queen's. 

l.istciwel,  2,199,  Kerry. 

Mountshannon.   222.  Galw. 

'Littleton,  106,  Tippe'rary. 

Moville,  1.  049,  Donegal. 

Losrhill,  221,  Limerick. 

Moy,  581,  Tyrone. 

*  1  1  Londonderry,     25,  242, 

Moys,  156  Derry. 

Londonderry. 

Muff,  169,  Derry. 

[Longford,  4.:vrr>,  Longford. 
Lungwood,  .'!".'),  Heath. 

Mullacrirw,  221,  Louth. 
Mullagh,  310,  Cavan. 

Lorrha,  129,  Tipperary. 

Mullagh,  ISO.  Clare. 

Loughbeg.  431,  Cork. 

Mullinahone,  818.  Tip. 

Louulibrii-k  land.  388.  Down. 

Mullinavat,  531,  Kilkenny. 

Looghgall,  135.  Armagh. 

?Mullingar,  5,103,    AVcstm. 

Loughiflinn,  24S.  Rosoom. 

Multifarnham,    270,   West- 

ILoughrea,. 3.072.  (inlway. 

meath. 

Lou^hslnnny,  1H2  Dublin. 
Louisbursh.  .149.  Mayo. 

Myshall,  145,  Carlow. 
|Naas,  3,360,  Kildare. 

Louth,  3.W.  Loutli. 

Naui,  139,  Dublin. 

Lucan.  523,  Dublin. 

JNuvan.  4,  104.  Meath. 

?  1/urgan,  in,r.:!2,  Armagh. 

Neale,  130,  Mayo. 

LnrgAtifwn,  14S,  Lonth. 

?Xenagh,   S,fi%,  Tipperary. 

Lusk,57J,  Dublin. 

New  Birmingham,  168,  Tip- 

Mitcroom,  3,193,  Cork, 

nerary. 

338 


POPULATION    IN    CITIES    AND    TOWNS. 


Newbliss,  439,  Monaghan. 

2  Newbridge.  3.286,  Kildare. 

Newcastle,  764  Down. 

Newcastle,  2.112,  Limerick. 

NewGlanmire,  14:!,  Cork. 

New  Inn,  132,  Tipperary. 

Newmarket,  705,  Cork. 

Newmarket-on-  Fergus,  750, 
Clare. 

Newport,  81.").  Mayo. 

Newport,  1.0i:i.  Tipperary. 

iJNew  Ross.  6,772,  Wextbrd 
and  Kilkenny. 

JJNewry.     14,158,    Armagh 
anil  Down. 

Newtown,  368.  Cork. 

Newton.  613,  Town. 
•  SNewtownards,  9,562.  Down. 

Newtownbarry,  1,014,  Wex- 
tbrd. 

Newtownbellew.  2?0.  O-i'w. 

Newtov.Mbro.i.i.  ,"ll.   i'.'U  i. 

NewcownbiKlur,    418.    Fer- 
managh. 

Newtown-Cromineliu,     132, 
Antrim. 

Newtown-Cunningham,  235, 
Donegal. 

Newtown-Dillon,  709,  Mayo. 

New  T. -Forbes,  .",17,   LonVf. 

Newtown-Gore,  122,    Leitr. 

Newtown- Hamilton,  1,027, 
Armagh. 

Newtownmountkennedy, 
444,  Wicklow. 

Newtown  park,  485,  Dublin. 

NewT.-Siiiides,   218,   Kerry. 

Nowtown-Stewart,        1,159, 
Tyrone. 

Nicker.  187,  Limerick. 

Nhie-mile-house,   193,    Tip. 

Nobber,  342,  Meatli. 

•O'Briensbridge,  2y3,  Clare. 

<J'Callaghanshiills,  183, 

Oldbridge,   623,  Waterford, 
Oldcast.le.  911,  Meath. 
Oldleighlitf,  181,  Cwlow. 

•Old  Park,'234.  Antrim. 
£0magli,  3.724,  Tyrone. 
Oolu,  465,  Limerick, 
•Oramnore,  533,  Galway. 
Oaghterard,  861,  Galwny. 
"Ourtuagapple.  156,  Galway. 
Palatine,  130,  Carlow. 
Pallas,  146.  Cork. 
I'alla-igrean.   28'.),  Limerick. 
Pallaskenry.  429,  Limerick. 
Palnfentoa,  200,  Dublin.  t 
Parkgate,  128,  Antrim. 
!JPaw>nslo\vn.  1.939  King's. 
Passage,  729,  Waterford. 
I'iissauo   We-t,  2,.;sy.  Cork. 
•',  Pcmbrokfi,  2(1.082.  Dublin, 
PetUgoe,  525,  Donegal  and 

Fermanagh. 

Philipstown,  820,  King's. 
Pilltown,  436,  Kilkenny. 
P.umb  Bridge,  149,  Tyronrf. 
Points   Pass,  386,  Armagh 

and  Down. 

Pomcroy,  526,rTyrone. 
Ponds,  217,  Dublin. 


?Portadown,  6,735,  Armagh. 

il'ortalerry,  1,938,  Down. 

;  Portarlington,  2,560, 

King'»and  Queen's. 

Port«lenon«,  697,  Antrim 
and  Londonderry. 

Portlaw,   3,774,  Waterford. 

PortmneM,  -it-*,  Kerry. 

Portri)e.  219.  Tipperary. 

Portrusb,  1.196,  Antrim. 

Portstewart,  512.  Derry. 

Purtumna,  1,269,  Galway. 

Prosperous.  263.  Kildare. 

Pimly.sburn,  127.  Down. 

JQueenstown,  10.310,  Cork. 

Quin,  136,  Clare. 

Kaharney,  153.  Westmeath. 

Raheny.  192,  Dublin. 

Raiieendoran.  136.  Carlow. 

K.ini-.L'ranKe,  124,  Wexlonl. 

i;   nd  ilstown.  604,  Antrim. 

Il.pho.-.  1.021.  Donegal. 

U  t.uh,u'kin,  2i«i,  Antrim. 

Hathangan.  ii82,  Kildare. 

Kathcoole,  459,  Dublin. 

Iliithc-ormack.  451.  Cork. 

liathdowney,  1.1C6,  Queen's. 

Itathdrum,  929,  Wioklow. 

Katliliinibam,  5S9,  Dublin. 

Hatbfriland,  1.S27,  Down. 

EUtbsrormuek,  131,   Water!'. 

I  llatlikeale,  2,617,Limerick. 

Kathmelton,  1,499,  Donegal. 

fKathminee  and  llathgar, 
20,562.  Dublin. 

BatkmuUen,  4is,  Donegal. 

Rathne\v,695,  Wii'klow. 

Uiitbnxven,  319,  Westmeath. 

Rathvilly,  415,  Carlow. 

Katliwire,   1MI.  Westmeath. 

Ratoath,  376,  Jleath. 

Urdrross.  23ii,  Wicklow. 

Rich-hill,  725,  Armagh. 

Uingville,  3s6.  Waterlord. 

Rivenhapel,  231.  Wexlbrd. 

Riverstown,  162.  Cork. 

Riveratown,  307,  Sligo. 

Robei'tstown,  325,  Kildare. 

Kochlortbridgo  251,  West- 
meath. 

Roclccorry.  2S4,  Monaghan. 

Rockhill,  163,  Limerick. 

Rockmills,  177,  Cork. 

Roonah,  149,  Mayo. 

Itoosky,.  190,  Loitrim  and 
Roscommon. 

§  Roscommon,  2,375,  Ros- 
common. 

Iloscrea,  2,99',  Tipperary. 

Rosernont,  247,  Dublin. 

Rosscarbery,  714,  Cork. 

Rosses,  Upper.  200,  Sligo. 

K»sslea,  371,   Fennaiiaugh. 

llosstrevor,  627,  Down. 

Roundhill,  177.  Cork. 

II. nuidstone.  35,">,  (ialway. 

Royal  Oak,  122,  Carlow. 

Rush.  1.238.  Dublin. 

Saintlield.  901.  Down. 

St.  Johnstown, 285.  Donegal. 

St.  Patrickswell,  272,  Lim- 
erick. 

Sallins,  452,  Kildare. 


Sally's    Cross    Roads,    1C7, 
Cork. 

Sc!irritl'.  731,  Clare. 

Scartlea.  Kil.  Cork. 

Scarva.  196,  Down. 

Scilly.  646,  Cork, 

Scotsbouse,  130,  Monaghan. 

Srotstown,  139.  Monaghan. 

So-aiiby,  121.  Cavan. 

Seatorde,  161,  Down. 

Seein,  851.  Tyrone. 

Slianagarry.  263,  Cork. 

Shanatriiliien.  299.  Limerick. 

Shaiiballyniore,  214.  Cork. 

Shannonbridge,  254,  King's, 

Shaiinan       llarliour,       166, 
I     King's. 

i  Shercock,  354,  Cavan. 
•Shillehgh.  426.  Wicklow. 

Shinrone.  552.  King's. 

Shrule,  3:',0.  Mayo. 

Silvermines.  294,  Tip. 

Sixmilebridge,  517.  Clare. 

Sixmilecross,  311    Tyrone. 

Skerries,  2,236.  Dublin. 

JSkibbereen,  3,695,  Cork. 

Skull,  555,  Cork. 

Slane.  473,  Meiith. 

t Sligo,  10.670.  Sligo. 

Smithboronarh,  Monagh. 

Snei-m,  451.  Kerry. 

Spiddle.  273,  (Jalway. 

•tamullin.  182,  Jleath. 
.  Stepa^ide.  155.  Dublin. 
I  Stewarts  town,  931,  Tyrone. 

Millorgan.  513,  Dublin. 
,Stonylbrd.  272.  Kilkenny. 

iJStrabane,  4.309.  Tyrone. 

Stradbally,  181.  Kerry. 

Stradbally,  1,229,  Queen's. 

Stradbally,  469.  \\aterlord, 

St1  iidoue.  12*,  ('avail. 

Stran.yford,  4^2.  Down. 

Slranocum,  122.  Antrim. 

Stranorlar.  4i>8.  Donegal. 

Stratford.  278.  \\  icklow. 

Strokestown.  971.   Roscoin. 

gummerliill,  216.  Meath. 

frwonllnbar,  31 1.  Cavan. 

Swatragh,  184,  Derry. 

Swinelbi-d,  1,3(')6,  31ayo. 

Swords,  l.(Kl>.  Dnblin. 

Taglinion.  251.  Wextbrd. 

Tallagbt.  312,  Dublin. 

1'allow.  1.332.  \\atcrford. 

§Tanderagee,  1.210.  Armli. 

Tarbert,  705,  Kerry. 

STeraplemore.  3,497,  Tip. 

Templepatrick,  in,  Antrim. 

Templeplace.  402.    Kildare. 

Trinpletuohy,  308,  Tip. 

Tempo,  460.   Kernianagli. 

Terenure.  903,  Dublin. 

Termoiileckiii.  221,   Loutli. 

Tbomastbwn,  1.202,  Kilk. 

'/Thurles,  5.008,  Tipperary. 

Tillytown,:'s',9.  I'ub  in.' 

Timahoe,  130,  Quern's. 

Timoleague.  4 19,  Cork. 

Tinabely,  495,  Wicklow. 

Tinnahinc.il,  413,  Carlow. 

?Tipperary,  5.6:',-i.  Tipp. 

Toberabeena,  223,  Tipper. 


POPULATION   IN   CITIES   AND   TOWNS. 


339 


Tobercurry.  SS4,Sligo. 
Tobermore,  528,  Derry. 
Tolka.  190,  Dublin. 
Tomgraney,  145,  Clare. 
Tooinyvara,  417,  Tipperary. 
Tooreen,  !">:?,  Mayo. 
UTralee,  9,506.  Kerry. 
Tramore,  2,011,  Waterford. 
Trillick,  350,  Tyrone. 
|  Trim,  2,195,  Heath. 
|  Tiiam,  4.223,  Galwajr. 
Tulla,  .SCI,  Clare. 
Tullauhan,  117,  Leitrim. 
'(.  Tullamore,  5,17(t.  King's, 
Tallow,  2.H8,  Carlow. 


Tullyveery,  994,  Down. 
Tynagh,  144,  Gahvay. 
Tynan,  121,  Armagh. 
Tyrrellspass,  4T.i.  Wcstm. 
Unionhall,  477,  Cork. 
Urlingforil,  1,207,  Kilken. 
Villierstown,  231,WaterTd. 
Virginia,  787,  Cavan. 
Waringstown,  671,  Down. 
Warren,  226,  Antrim. 
Warrenspoint,  1^06,  Down. 
*tt  Waterford,    29.979,    Wa- 
terford. 

Watergrasshiil,  143,  Cork. 
tWestport,  4,417,  Mayo. 


Westquarter.  12fi,  Mayo. 
tJWexford,  12.077,  AV'exfd. 
White  Abbey.  1.272,  Antr. 
Whitegate,  ysi,  Cork. 
White   House,  Lower,  339. 

Antrim. 
White  House,  Upper,  1,056, 

Antrim. 

White's  Town,  250,  Louth. 
(SWicklow,  3,164,  Wicklow. 
Wilbrook,  130.  Dublin. 
Windgap,  128,  Kilkenny. 
Windy  Harbour,  314,  Dub. 
Woodford,  377,  Galway. 
JIYoughal,  6,081,  Cork. 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Absentee  proprietors,  number  of 24 

Absenteeism 156 

Ancient  Irish  tenantry 36 

Ancient  land  laws 37 

Anglo-Norman  Invasion 33 

Anthracite  coal 12 

Antiquity  of  Irish  civilization 26 

Appalling  horrors  of  the  Famine  in  46-7 186 

Arable  land,  acres  of. 19 

Armies  of  William  and  James 142 

Attempts  to  win  over  the  Catholics 172 

Banks,  establishment  of 122 

Barley,  produce  of  per  acre  20 

Baronies,  number  of  (see,  also,  Gazetteer  for  location  of.)  ....  19 

Beal-an-atha-buie,  battle  of 47 

Benburb,  battle  of 107 

Biggar,  Joseph 216 

Birth-places  of  the  people 21 

Bituminous    coal 12 

Blind,  ratio  of  the 23 

Botany  of  the  Island ' 14 

Boyne,  the  battle  of 143 

Brass  coined  for  Ireland 118 

Brehon  land  laws 37 

Bribery  unparalleled •» 116 

Catholic  emancipation 174 

Catholics  disarmed 134 

Cattle  trade  of  Ireland 126 

(341) 


34:2  INDEX. 

* 

PAGE 

Census  of  population v 20 

Chronic  Irish  misery,  the  secret  of 187 

Climate  of  the  Island ». 14 

Clontibret,  battle  of 46 

Clontarf,  battle  of 31 

Coal  beds,  area  of 12 

Coinage  for  Ireland 117 

Commodities  of  Ulster 78 

Confederacy  of  the  North 44 

Confiscations 60-103 

Conn  O'Neill  and  the  "Montgomeries 66 

Conquest  of  Ireland  begun . . . . . 34 

Constabulary 15 

Copper  mines 13 

Cotton  manufactures  (see,  also,  Gazetteer) 125 

Counties,  acreable  extent  of * 18 

Cromwell  in  Ireland 107 

Crops,  acres  under 19 

Cutting  off  heads,  reward  for 55 

Danish  Invasion 29 

Davitt,  Michael,  speech  of 232 

Deaf  and  dumb,  the  ratio  of 23 

Dean  Swift  on  Absenteeism 158 

Death  of  Sarsfield 148 

of  Thomas  Davis 197 

Debasing  the  Coin 121 

Declaration  of  Irish  Rights ^ 163 

Defection  of  Anglo-Irish  Generals  . . .  < 107 

Defective  titles 70 

Deterioration  of  the  Irish 80 

Difficulties  incident  to  State  interference 230 

Dillon,  John 215 

Disarming  acts i 134 

Discoverers  at  work 90 

Drapier's  letters,  the 121 

Dwellings  of  the  people 21 

Ecclesiastical  divisions ....  322 


INDEX.  343 

PAGE 

Education  under  native  government .' 29 

Effects  of  absenteeism 160 

Elective  franchise 16 

Electors,  number  of  (see,  also,  Gazetteer.) 16 

Elevations  of  the  land 10 

Emancipation  not  confined  to  Ireland 173 

Emigration,  statistics  of 24-194 

not  remedial 235 

the  landlord's  cure 245 

English  indifference  to  Irish  wa.nt 28 

law  introduced  into  Ulster 71 

Evil  working  of  the  tenant-at-will  system  . . .' 223 

Evils  of  absenteeism 157 

Extermination  counseled 87 

Families,  number  of \ . .     22  ' 

Famine  in  1845-6-7 180-187 

Fenian  raid  into  Canada 206 

Five  Bloods,  persons  of  the. .  .* .,. . .  138 

Franchise,  elective 116 

Free  trade  and  the  volunteers f 162 

Gazetteer  of  Ireland 253 

cities  and  boroughs 287 

counties 253 

parishes ' 322 

population 334 

Geology  of  the 'Island 10 

Geraldine  forfeitures  in  Munster 61 

Gleumalure,  battle  of : 153 

Government,  form  of.  in  early  times  27 

present  form  of 15 

Grattan's  efforts  to  prevent  the  Union '.  174 

Gold  ore .* 13 

Henry  Eighth  acknowledged  king- 35 

Houses — number  of  inhabitants  in 21 

Idiotic,  the  ratio  of • 23 

Ignorance  enforced  by  statute  laws 132 

Indictment  for  killing  an  Irishman 140 


3M  INDEX. 

PAGE 

Industries  of  Ireland 113 

Insurgents  at  New  Ross 168 

Irish  language,  names,  etc.,  prohibited 56 

landlordism  a  record  of  cruel  bondage *. 227 

not  subjects  but  enemies 54 

parliaments,  composition  of 115 

sympathy  with  American  rebels 161 

Irishmen  had  no  protection  under  the  law 139 

Ireland  had  no  power  of  self  defense 188 

Iron  ore 12 

Judicial  divisions 16 

Kilkenny,  statute  of 55 

Killing  an  Irishman  no  felony 54 

Kinsale,  battle  of 49 

Lakes,  the. . , 10 

Landed  property. 17 

Landlords  acting  injuriously  to  themselves 228 

Lady  Morgan  on  absenteeism 156 

Leaders  of  the  Laud  League 212 

Lead  veins 13 

Linen  manufacture 125 

Lunatics,  the  ratio  of 23 

Massacre  of  Mullaghmast 150 

Meagher  T.  F.,  a  speech  of 188 

Military  divisions 17 

Militia,  the 17 

Minerals — (see,  also,  Gazetteer) 12 

Mistakes  of  the  emigrants  on  landing '196 

Mitchel  convicted  of  treason — felony ." 201 

Monster  meetings 177 

Montgomeries  in  the  Ardes  of  Down 65 

Mortality  On  shipboard 195 

Mountains,  the  principal 10 

Munificence  of  the  American  people 185 

National  Council  at  Kells 106 

New  effort  to  plant  Englishmen  on  the  land Ill 

New  Ross,  battle  at 168 


INDEX.  345 

PAGE 

Nominal  'itlja  Parliaments  . . . ' 115 

Norman  settlement 34 

Norsemen,  invasions  by 30 

O'Connell  and  the  men  of  48 189 

his  wonderful  influence , 178 

last  appeal  to  'England , ,  182 

true  to  civil  and  religious  liberty 180 

O'Donnell,  Frank  Hugh 220 

O'Neill  unfurls  his  royal  standard 45 

O'Sullivan,  W.  H 219 

Oath  of  supremacy 109 

Oats,  produce  of  per  acre 20 

Occupations  of  the  people 23 

Oulart  Hill,  the  battle  of 167 

Parliamentary  independence 116 

Piirriell,  Charles  S 213 

Paupers 25 

Peace  policy,  the 179 

Peat  bog,  extent  of    12 

Penal  Laws  under  Catholic   England. . . . , 51 

under  Proiestant  England 128 

Plantations,  area  of 19 

Police  force,  Metropolitan 16 

Political  divisions  of  the  Island 13 

systems,    effects  of 59 

Popery  laws  cause  deep  distress 137 

Population,  census  of  the 20 

by  counties 253 

cities,    boroughs 287 

towns 344 

Potatoes,  produce  of  per  acre 20 

Poverty  in  Ireland    compulsory 128 

Power,  John  O'Connor 218 

Prevalent  diseases  in  Ireland 14 

Produce,  per  acre ; 20 

Proprietors  of  land,  number  of 24 

Protestant  patriotism  in  1782 116 


346  INDEX. 

PAGE 

Protests  against  the  act  of  union 173 

Provinces,  total  area  of .' 18 

Prussian  land  tenure 238 

Reformation,  the 41 

Religious  persecutions ;  88 

Repeal  of  the  Union,  agitation  for 176 

Representation '. :  16 

Results  of  absenteeism 159 

Republican  ideas  propagated 190 

Rights  of  property 237 

Rising  of  the  North 44 

Rivers  the 10 

Russian  system  of  land  tenure 240 

Sanitary  condition  of  the  people 23 

Sarsfield  meets  William  at  Steink:rk 147 

Saxon  race,  character  of 81 

Schools,  early  establishment  of ( 28 

Scottish  Highlanders  in  Ulster 65 

Secession  from  the  Repeal  Association  191-199 

of  John  Mitchell  from  Irish  Confederation 2CO 

Settlement  by  the  Danes 30 

Normans; 34 

Scotch..'. 65 

Silver  ore 13 

Size  of  farms  in  Ireland 250 

Social  comparison  of  the  two  laces 79 

Society  of  United  Irishmen * Ki4 

St.  Patrick 26 

Statistics  of  Ireland  (see,  also,  Gazetteer.) 9 

Starving  amid  plenty 22o 

Submission  of  the  northern  chiefs £0 

Suppressed  Industries  of  Ireland 13 

Surface  of  the  Island 10 

Synod  of  Catholic  bishops  at  Kells,  1643 106 

Temperature  of  the  Island 14 

Tenant  right  agitation 203 


INDEX.  347 

PAGE 

Tenants  evicted  by  military  force 210 

could  not  control  the  elements 205) 

of  Ulster  boldly  assert  their  rights 250 

Territorial  division  (see,  also,  Gazetteer) 18 

The  American  Phoenix  Society 205 

The  Crow-bar  Brigade 242 

The  Devon  Land  Commission. 193 

The  Dublin  Nation  newspaper 197 

The  Fire-  Brand  of  the  mountains 153 

The  Irish  Confederation  of '48 199 

The  Irish  Exodus ^. 192 

The  Manchester  martyrs 207 

The  National  Land  League 222 

The  State  has  the  right  to  take  lands, 237 

Tim  Stone 13 

Towns,  number  of  acres  under. 19 

population  of 287 

Treaty  of  Limerick,  violation  of 128 

Turf  bog,  extent  of  (see,  also,  Gazetteer) .     12 

Ulster  Plantations • 84-93 

Uncultivated  land,  area  of 19 

Union,  the  legislative \ 170 

United  Irishmen 164 

Valor  and  prowess  of  the  natives 79 

Value  of  a  murdered  Irishman 141 

Violation  of  the  treaty  of  Limerick 129 

Water,  number  of  acres  under  (see,  also,  Gazetteer.) 19 

"Water-power  of  Ireland 127 

Wexford  insurgents 166 

Wheat,  produce  of  per  acre 20 

Woolen  manufactures  (see,  also,  Gazatteer.) 125 

Wretched  condition  of  the  people ^  . . .  110 

Young  Ireland,  chiefs  banished 203 

Zoology  (see,  also,  Gazetteer) 14 


APPENDIX. 


LETTER   OF   DONALD    O'NEILL,   KING   OF  ULSTER,  TO  JOHN, 
SOVEREIGN  PONTIFF,  WRITTEN  ABOUT  1329. 

To  our  Most  Holy  Father,  John,  by  the  grace  of  God,  sorwif/n 
pontiff,  we.  his  faithful  children  in  Christ  Jesus,  Donald  O'NetH, 
king  of  Ulster,  and  lawful  heir  to  the  throne  of  Ireland;  the  no- 
bles and  great  men.  with  all  the  people  of  this  kingdom,  rtcom- 
.  mend  and  hutnbly  cast  ourselves,  at  his  feet,  d-c. 

The  calumnies  and  false  representations  which  have  been  heaped 
upon  us  by  the  English  are  too  well  known  throughout  the  world, 
not  to  have  reached  the  ears  of  your  Holiness.  We  are  persuaded, 
most  Holy  Father,  tha,t  your  intentions  are  most  pure  and  upright, 
but  from  not  knowing  the  Irish  except  through  the  misrepre-enta- 
tiou  ot  their  enemies,  your  holiness  might  be  induced  to  look  upon 
as  truihs  those  falsehoods  which  have  been  circulated,  and  to  form 
an  opinion  contrary  to  what  we  merit,  which  would  be  to  us  a 
great  misfortune.  It  is,  therefore,  to  save  our  country  against 
such  imputations,  that  we  hav j  come  to  the  resolution  of  giving  to 
your  Holiness,  in  this  letter,  a  faithful  description,  and  a  tru*-  and 
precise  idea  of  the  real  state  at  present  of  our  monarchy,  if  this 
term  can  be  still  applied  to  the  sad  remains  of  a  kingdom  which 
has  groaned  so  long  beneath  the  tyranny  of  the  kings  of  England, 
and  that  of  their  ministers  and  barons,  some  of  whom,  though 
born  in  our  island,  continue  to  exercise  over  us  the  same  extortions, 
v rapine  and  cruelties  as  their  ancestors  before  them  have  commit- 
ted. We  shall  advance  nothing  but  the  truth,  and  we  humbly 
hope  that,  attentive  to  its  voice,  your  Holiness  will  not  delay  to 
express  ^our  disapprobation  against  the  authors  of  those  crimes 
and  outrages  which  shall  be  revealed.  The  country  in  which  we 
live  was  uninhabited  until  the  three  sons  of  a  Spanish  prince, 
named  Milesius,  according  to  others  Micelius,  landed  in  it  with  a 
fleet  of  thirty  ships.  They  came  here  from  Cantabria,  a  city  on  the 
Ebro.  from  which  river  they  called  the  country  to  which  Providence 
guided  them,  Ibernia,  where  they  founded  a  monarchy  that  em- 
braced the  euiire  of  the  island.  Their  descendants,  who  never 
(348) 


APPEIsT)IX.  34:9 

sullied  the  purity  of  their  blood  by  a  foreign  alliance,  have  fur- 
nished ,one  hundred  and  thirty  kings,  who,  during  the  space  of 
three  thousand  five  hundred  years  and  upwards,  have  successively* 
filled  the  throne  of  Ireland  till  the  time  of  King  Legarius,  from 
whom  he,  who  has  the  honour  of  affirming  thr^e  facts,  is  descended 
in  a  direct  line.  It  was  under  the  reign  of  this  prince,  in  the  year 
4:35,  that  our  patron  and  chief  apostle,  St.  Patrick,  was  sent  to  us 
by  Pope  Celestinus,  one  of  your  predecessors;  and  since  the  con- 
version of  the  kingdom  through  the  preaching  of  that  great  saint, 
we  have  had,  till  117U,  an  uninterrupted  succession  of  sixty-one 
kings,  descended  from  the  purest  blood  of  Milesius,  who,  well  in- 
structed in  the  duties  of  their  religion,  and  faithful  to  their  God, 
have  proved  themselves  fathers  of  their  people,  and  have  shown 
by  their  conduct  that,  although  they  depended  in  a  spiritual  light 
upon  the  holy  apostolical  see  of  Rome,  they  never  acknowledged 
any  temporal  master  upon  earth.  It  is  to  those  Milesian  princes, 
and  not  to  the  English  or  any  other  foreigners,  that  the  church  of 
Ireland  is  indebted  for  those  lands,  possessions,  and  high  privi- 
leges, with  which  the  pious  liberality  of  our  monarchs  enriched  it,, 
and  of  which  it  has  been  almost  stripped,  through  the  sacrilegious 
cupidity  of  the  English.  During  the  course  of  so  many  centuries, 
our  sovereigns,  jealous  of  their  independence,  preserved  it  unim- 
paired. Attacked  more  than  once  by  foreign  powers,  they  were 
never  wanting  in  either  courage  or  strength  to  repel  the  invaders, 
afid  secure  their  inheritance  from  insult.  But  that  which  they  ef- 
fected against  force,  they  failed  to  accomplish  in  opposition  to  the 
will  of  the  sovereign  pontiff.  His  holiness  Pope  Adrian,  to  whose 
other  great  qualities  we  bear  testimony,  was  by  birth  an.  English- 
man, but  still  more  in  heart  and  disposition.  The  national  preju- 
dices he  had  early  imbibed,  blinded  him  to  such  a  degree  that,  on 
a  most  false  and  unjust  statement,  he  determined  to  transfer  the 
sovereignty  of  our  country  to  Henry,  King  of  England,  under 
whom,  and  perhaps  by  whom,  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury  had  been 
murdered  for  his  zeal  in  defending  the  interests  of  the  church. 

Instead  of  punishing  this  prince  as  his  crime  merjted,  and  de- 
priving him  of  his  own  territories,  the  complaisant  pontiff  has  torn 
ours  from  us  to  gratify  his  countryman,  Henry  II.:  and,  without 
pretext  or  offence  on  our  part,  or  any  apparent  motive  on  his  own, 
has  stripped  us  by  the  most  flagrant  injustice  of  the  rights  of  our 
crown,  and  left  us  a  prey  to  men,  or  rather  to  monsters,  who  are 
unparalleled  in  cruelty.  More  cunning  than  foxes,  and  more  rav- 
enous than  wolves,  they  surprise  and  devour  us  ;  and  if  sometimes 
we  escape  their  fury,  it  is  only  to  drag  on,  in  the  most  disgraceful 
slavery,  the  wretched  remains  of  a  life  more  intolerable  to  us  than 
death  itself.  When,  in  virtue  of  th.e  donation  which  has  been 
mentioned,  the  English  appeared  for  the  first  time  in  this  country, 
they  exhibited  every  mark  of  zeal  and  piety;  and  excelling  as  they 
did  in  every  species  of  hypocrisy,  they  neglected  nothing  to  sup- 
plant and  undermine  us  imperceptibly.  Emboldened  from  th<*:jr 


350  APPENDIX. 

first  suceases,  they  soon  removed  the  mask;  and  without  any  right 
,but  that  of  power,  they  obliged  us,  by  open  force,  to  give  up  to 
them  our  houses  and  our  lands,  and  to  seek  shelter,  like  wild 
beasts,  upon  the  mountains,  in  woods,  marshes,  and  caves.  Even 
there,  we  have  not  been  secure5  against  their  fury;  they  even  envy 
us  those  dreary  and  terrible  abodes;  they  are  incessant  and  unre- 
mitting in  their  pursuits  after  us,  endeavouring  to  chase  us  from 
among  them;  they  lay  claim  to  every  place  in  which  the}T  can  dis- 
cover us,  with  unwarranted  audacity  and  injustice;  they  allege 
that  the  whole  kingdom  belongs  to  them  of  right,  and  that  an 
Irishman  has  no  longer  aright  to  remain  in  his  own  country. 
From  these  causes  arise  the  implacable  hatred  and  dreadful  ani- 
mosity of  the  English  and  the  Irish,  towards  each  other;  that  con- 
tinued hostility,  those  bloody  retaliations  and  innumerable  massa- 
cres, in  which,  from  the  invasion  of  the  English  to  the  present 
time,  more  than  fifty  thousand  lives  have  been  lost  on  both  sides, 
besides  those  who  have  fallen  victims  to  hunger,  to  despair  and 
to  the  rigours  of  captivity.  Hence  also  spring  all  the  pillaging, 
robbery,  treachery,  treason  and  other  disorders  which  it  is  impos- 
sible lor  us  to  allay  in  the  state  of  anarchy  under  which  at  present 
we  live;  an  anarchy  fatal  not  only  to  the  state,  but  likewise  to  the 
church  of'  Ireland,  whose  members  are  now,  more  than  ever,  ex- 
posed to  the  danger  of  losing  the  blessings  of  eternity,  after  being 
first  deprived  of  those  of  this  world.  Behold,  most  holy  father,  a 
brief  description  of  all  that  has  reference  to  our  origin,  and  the 
miserable  condition  to  which  your  predecessor  has  brought  us. 
We  shall  now  inform  your  holiness  of  the  manner  in  which  we 
have  been  treated  by  the  kings  of  England.  The  permisson  of 
entering  this  kingdom,  was  granted  by  the  holy  see  to  Henry  II. 
and  his  successors,  only  on  certain  conditions,  which  were  clearly 
expressed  in  the  bull  which  was  given  them.  According  to  the 
tenor  of  it,  Henry  engaged  to  increase  the  church  revenues  in  Ire- 
land; to  maintain  it  in  all  its  rights  and  privileges;  to  labour  by 
enacting  good  laws,  in  reforming  the  morals  of  the  people,  eradi- 
cating vice,  a^id  encouraging  virtue;  and  finally,  to  pay  to  the  suc- 
cessors of  St.  Peter  an  annual  tribute  of  one  penny  for  each  house. 
Such  were  the  conditions  of  the  bull.  But  the  kings  of  England 
and  their  perfidious  ^ministers,  so  far  from  observing  them,  have 
uniformly  contrived  to  violate  them  in  every  way,  and  to  act  in 
direct  opposition  to  them.  First,  as  to  the  church  lands,  instead 
of  extending  their  boundaries,  they  have  contracted,  curtailed,  and 
invaded  them  so  generally  and  to  such  a  degree,  that  some  of  our 
cathedrals  have  been  deprived,  by  open  force,  of  more  than  one- 
half  of  their  revenues.  The  persons  of  the  clergy  have  been  as 
little  respected  as  their  property.  On  every  side  we  behold  bish- 
ops and  prelates  summoned,  arrested,  and  imprisoned  by  the  com- 
missioners of  the  king  of  England;  and  so  great  is  the  oppression 
exerc:sed  over  them,  that  they  dare  not  give  information  of  it  to 
your  holiness.  However,  as  they  are  so  dastardly  as  to  conceal 


APPENDIX.  351 

their  misfortunes  and  those  of  the  church,  they  do  not  merit  that 
we  should  speak  in  their  behalf.  ' 

The  Irish  were  remarkable  for  their  candour  and  simplicity;  but 
the  English  have  undertaken  to  reform  us,  and  have  been  unfor- 
tunately but  too  successful.  Instead  of  being,  like  our  ancestors, 
simple  and  candid,  we  have  become,  through  our  intercourse  with 
the  English,  and  the  contagion  of  their  example,  artful  and  design- 
ing as  themselves.  Our  laws  were  written,  and  formed  a  body  of 
right,  acco.  ding  to  which  our  country  was  governed.  However, 
with  th  >  exception  of  one  alone,  which  they  could  not  wrest  from 
tis,  they  have  deprived  us  of  those  salutary  laws,  and  have  given 
us  instead  a  code  of  their  own  making.  Great  God  !  such  laws! 
If  inhumanity  and  injustice  were  leagued  together,  none  could 
have  been  devised  more  deadly  and  fatal  to  the  Irish.  The  fol- 
lowing will  give  your  holiness  some  idea  of  their  new  code.  They 
are  t.ie  fundamental  rules  of  English  jurisdiction  established  in 
.this  kingdom: 

1st  Every  man  who  is  not  Irish,  may,  for  any  kind  of  crime, 
go  to  law  with  any  Irishman,  whilst  neither  layman  nor  ecclesias- 
tic, who  is  Irish,  (prelates  excepted,)  can,  under  any  cause  or 
provocation,  resort  to  any  legal  measures  against  his  English 
opponent. 

2d — If  an  Englishman  kill  an  Irishman  perfidiously  and  falsely, 
as  frequently  occurs,  of  whatsoever  rank  or  condition  the  Irishman 
may  be,  noble  or  plebeian,  innocent  or  guilty,  clergyman  or  lay- 
man, secular  or  regular,  were  he  even  a  bishop,  the  crime  is  not 
punishable  before  our  English  tribunal;  but  on  the  contrary,  the 
more  the  sutferer  has  been  distinguished  among  his  countrymen, 
either  fur  his  virtue  or  his  r  mk,  the  more  the  assassin  fs  extolled 
ti nd  rewarded  by  the  English,  and  that  not  only  by  the  vulgar, 
but  by  the  monks,  bishops,  and  what  is  more  incredible,  by  the 
very  magistrates,  whose  duty,  it  is  to  punish  and  repress,  ci-i me. 
.  3d — If  any  Irishwoman  whosoever,  whether  noble  or  plebeian, 
marry  an  Englishman,  on  the  death  of  her  husband  she  becomes 
deprived  from  her  being  Irish,  of  a  third  of  the  property  and 
possessions  which  he  owned. 

4th — If  an  Irishman  fall  beneath  the  blows  of  an  Englishman, 
the  latter  can  prevent  the  vanquished  from  making  any  testamen- 
tary deposition,  and  may  likewise  take  possession  of  all  his 
wealth.  What  can  be  more  unjustifiable  than  a  law  which  de- 
prives the  church  of  its  rights,  and  reduces  men,  who  had  been 
free  from  time  immemorial,  to  the  rank  of  slaves? 

5th — The  same  tribunal,  with  the  co-operation  and  connivance 
of  some  Knglish  bishops,  at  which  the  arch-bishop  of  Armagh 
presided,  a  man  who  was  but  little  esteemed  for  his  conduct,  and 
still  less  for  his  learning,  made  the  following  regulations  at  Kil- 
kenny, which  are  not  les's  absurd  in  their  import,  than  in  their 
form.  •  The  court,  saythey,  after  deliberating  togetner.  prohibits 
all  religious  communities,  in  that  part  of  Ireland  of  which  the 


352  APPENDIX. 

English  are  in  peaceful  possession,  to  admit  any  into  them  but 
a  native  of  England,  under  a  penalty  of  being  treated  by  the  king 
of  England,  as  having  contemned  his  orders,  and  by  the  founders 
and  administrators  of  the  said  communities,  as  disobedient  and 
refractory  to  the  present  regulation.  This  regulation  was  little 
needed;  before,  as  well  as  since  its  enactment,  the  English  Do- 
minicans, Franciscans,  Benedictines,  regular  canons,  and  all  the 
other  communities  of  their  countrymen,  observed  the  spirit  of  it 
but  too  faithfully.  In  the  choice  of  their  inmates  they  have 
evinced  a  partiality,  the  more  shameful,  as  the  houses  fur  Bene- 
dictines and  canons,  where  the  Irish  are  now  denied  admittance, 
were  intended  by  their  founders  to  be  asylums  open  to  people  of 
every  nation  indiscriminately.  Vice  was  to  be  eradicated  from 
amongst  us,  and  the  seeds  of  virtue  sown.  Our  reformers  have 
acted  in  a  way  diametrically  opposite;  they  have  deprived  us  of 
our  virtues,  and  have  implanted  their  vices  amongst  us,  <fec.  &c.  &c. 


